Michael Jackson transcended our imaginations and continues to uplifts our souls and spirits through his tremendously meaningful life well lived. This forum is for the celebration and discussion of his beautiful body of work from his iconic moves and myst

This is the MJ Interviews thread for the purpose of posting many dozens of the interviews Michael participated in from the early 70's throughout the rest of his life - I will be posting these interviews 1-2 at a time for several weeks until all I have in archives are all posted-Please feel free to discuss and add additional information in new threads - this thread is primarily only for the interviews I will post-enjoy the many components which will include lovely pictures-some very rare and videos which support each interview. Many of the interview transcripts will include the actual interview (mostly on YT)

Last edited by Admin on Mon Oct 01, 2012 12:53 pm; edited 2 times in total

_________________Michael Jackson transcended our imaginations and continues to uplift our souls and spirits through his tremendously meaningful life well lived.

I decided to post one or two interviews at a time for the next few weeks or months to honor MJ – I wanted to return to the times we (well many of us) have experienced with MJ starting well over 30 years ago. These interviews bring back so many memories -some of the best of my life and some of the tough times too.

I have felt the need to reminisce and what better way than to read the actual words MJ spoke about what was important to him about life and love and how he shared all he could and gave all he had.

The 1st interview is in 1978 – 1 week before Michael’s 20th birthday – it takes place in Encino in Michael’s family home on Hayvenhurst with Randy Taraborrelli and a photographer.I’ll include pictures along with these interviews taken during the same year –

note: If these pix do not open-the site is probably either defunct or has changed the links-I will get additional pictures to add when this occurs very soon after posting each interview

Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow in a 1978 production The Wiz. Yes, he's the Scarecrow, and that's actually Diana Ross as Dorothy in the middle (and Ted Ross as the Lion and Nipsey Russell as the Tin Man

INTERVIEW # 1

>>Interview by Randy J. Taraborrelli (1978)

When John Whyman, the photographer, and I [Taraborrelli] pulled up to the ominousblack wrought-iron gate at 4641 Hayvenhurst, the Jacksons' estate, it stood open, butWhyman pressed the buzzer on the squawk box anyway. We had heard about thevicious guard dogs and did not want to take any chances. An electronic camera,conspicuously mounted on a fifteen-foot-high pole, seemed to zoom in for closerinspection. Our images, we later learned, were being projected on a closed-circuittelevision screen in the Jackson kitchen. "You may come in," said a disembodiedmale voice.

We pulled into the circular driveway, a cache of Cadillacs, Rolls Royces, Mercedes-Benzes, Datsun 240Zs, and a Pantara. Three angry sentry dogs, penned up at the endof the drive, hurled themselves against the chain link fence. Their ferocious barkswere in contrast to the raucous cries of three large peacocks-one pure white-cagednearby. The sound from the peacocks was something akin to a baby's wail and a cat'showl. We decided to wait in the car.

Looking around, I noticed a custom-made street sign, Jackson 5 Boulevard, nailed to anearby tree trunk. To the left stood a basketball court. I glanced up at the two-storyhouse and noticed four expressionless faces staring down at us from as manywindows. Michael, LaToya, Randy, and their mother, Katherine, had theircountenances pressed against the panes as if they were prisoners in a compound.It seemed that nobody would rescue us, so we took our chances, got out of the car,and approached the front door. I rang the doorbell. Twenty-two-year-old LaToya, in awhite tennis outfit, answered. When Michael approached seconds later, she excusedherself, walked out into the driveway, got into a sporty red Mercedes convertible, andsped off.

"Glad you could make it," Michael said as we shook hands.

He was wearing a yellow Jaws T-shirt, black jeans, and a safari hat, around which hisafro seemed to billow. His feet were bare and, to me, he looked painfully thin. Hespoke in an odd, falsetto whisper, which seemed even softer than it had the last timewe had talked. In exactly a week, he would turn twenty.

Michael led us through the house toward the living room. A huge yellow and greenparrot sat perched on a ledge outside the window, shucking peanuts. A red, blue, andyellow cockatoo eyed us warily through another window. It let out an ear piercingscreech as we sat down. I suddenly felt like I was at a zoo.

"How come you're not getting your guests lemonade?" Katherine asked her son whenshe came into the room. I could not help noticing that Michael's mother walked with aslight limp, the result of a bout with polio she had as a child. At some times thehandicap was more pronounced than at others.

"Oh, sorry," Michael murmured. He dashed off to the kitchen, giving me anopportunity to talk alone with his forty-nine-year-old- mother while the photographerset up his equipment.

The house, which they had lived in since 1971, was a combination pale yellow, softgreen, and white, a reflection of Katherine's warm personality. She was gregarious,friendly, and she had a benevolent glow about her. She told me she had decorated thehouse herself as an assignment for a home-decorating class. She mentioned thatMichael's favorite foods were hot apple turnovers and sweet potato pies.

"Only now I can't get him to eat anything. I try and try," she said, shrugging hershoulders. "I keep thinking he'll eat when he gets hungry, but the boy never getshungry. Have you noticed how skinny he is? It worries me."

I looked around at the opulent furnishings. "These last few years have certainly beengood ones," I said to Katherine. "Maybe the best of your life?"

"Not really," she answered thoughtfully. "The best years were back when Michaelwas about three and I used to sing folk songs with him. You see, I'd always wanted tobe a country star, but who'd ever heard of a black country star back then? Thoserestrictions, again. Anyway, we had one bedroom for the boys and they all slepttogether in triple bunk beds. Before going to sleep, we'd all sing. We were all sohappy then. I'd switch my life now and give up all that we have now for just one ofthose days back in Gary when it was so much simpler. When we first came toCalifornia, I don't know how many times I said, "I wish things were the way they usedto be in Gary." But things have never been the same," she added sadly. "It's allchanged now."

Michael came back into the room juggling two glasses of lemonade. He handed one tome and the other to the photographer and then sat in a chair, lotus position. Katherineexcused herself.

He laughed a silvery peal, as he did often; he was in good spirits this afternoon, not atall the shy, reclusive superstar he would become in a few years. I laughed with himbecause I was certain we were sharing a joke, but we weren't. He was serious.

"I remember when he was vice-president," Michael continued thoughtfully. "That Iremember. But president?" He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "That I missed."In just a few years, Michael would become an avid reader and exchange ideas aboutpolitics with Jane Fonda. But at the time, Michael was quite naive about currentevents. Astounded at the extreme isolation of this twenty-year-old's world, I began toprobe deeper. "How do you keep up with current events? Do you read newspapers?Watch TV?"

"I watch cartoons," he told me. "I love cartoons." His eyes lit up. "I love Disney somuch. The Magic Kingdom. Disneyland. It's such a magical place. Walt Disney was adreamer, like me. And he made his dreams come true, like me. I hope."

"What about current events?"

Michael looked at me blankly, "Current events?""Do you read the paper?" I repeated.

He shook his head no. "See, I like show business. I listen to music all the time. Iwatch old movies. Fred Astair movies. Gene Kelly, I love. And Sammy [Davis]. I canwatch those guys all day, twenty-four hours a day. That's what I love the most. Showbusiness, you know?"

We talked about old movies for a while, and about his involvement in The Wiz, thefilm he had just finished shooting in which he plays the Scarecrow. I asked what hesaw as his biggest professional challenge.

"To live up to what Joseph expects of me.""Joseph? Who's Joseph?" I wondered."My father, Joseph.""You call your father by his first name?" I asked."Uh-huh.""And living up to what he expects of you is a professional challenge?"Michael mulled over my question. "Yes. A professional challenge."

"What about the personal challenges?""My professional challenges and personal challenges are the same thing," he saiduneasily. "I just want to entertain. See, when I was in the second grade, the teacherasked me what I wished for. I asked for a mansion, for peace in the world, and to beable to entertain...Can we talk about something else?"

"Do you have any friends that you can really confide in?"Michael squirmed. "No, not really. I guess I'm pretty lonely.""How about Tatum O'Neal?" I wondered.

Michael shrugged his shoulders. "She's nice. She was really happy for me when I gotthe part in the Wiz. She and Ryan were on my side, helping me with my lines, and Iowe them a lot. Tatum understands me, I guess. She's gonna teach me how to drive acar. She introduces me to people, famous, famous people. But my real dates, they'rethe girls who stand outside the gate out there. I go out and sign autographs for themwhen I can. They like that. They stay on one side of the gate, and I stay on the other."

"You mean you keep the gate closed?" I asked."Oh, yeah. Of course."

"Any other friends?""Well, I do have one friend," he said. "A very dear, close friend that I can tell mydeepest, darkest secrets to because I know she won't tell anyone, not another livingsoul. Her name is..." He paused dramatically. "Miss Diana Ross."

At this point, Michael was joined by his brothers Jackie, Tito, Marlon, and Randy.Michael talked about the group's success at Motown and about the fanatical hysteriagenerated by their fame, which Motown tagged "Jacksonmania."

"Once at a record store in San Francisco, over a thousand kids showed up," he said ina hushed tone. "They all pushed forward and broke a window. A big piece of glassfell on top of this girl. And the girl's throat..." he paused for effect, "was slit." Michaelswiftly ran his index finger across his neck.

"Michael, don't do that. That's gross," his youngest brother, Randy, said.Michael ignored Randy and continued with his story. "She just got slit. And Iremember there was blood everywhere. Oh God, so much blood. And she grabbed herthroat and was bleeding and everyone just ignored her. Why? Because I was there andthey wanted to grab at me and get my autograph." Michael sighed. "I wonderwhatever happened to that girl."

"Probably dead," Tito muttered. Jackie tried to stifle a laugh. Fans were as much a curse as a blessing. "We got three guard dogs. One is Heavy, one is Black Girl, and the other one don't got no name," Michael said. "We have to have them," he insisted. "See, once a lady jumped over the gate and into the house and sat down in the den. We came home, and she looked at us and what did she say?" He turned to Marlon for help. "What'd that lady say?" "She said, 'I'm here cause God sent me,'" Marlon replied. "Yeah, God sent her," Michael repeated.

Jackie laughed again. "Yeah, God sent her to sit in the Jackson 5's den and wait forthem to get home so she can get their autograph, and maybe her picture with em too.She was on a divine mission. Man, that's funny."

"And then once, a whole family managed to get into the estate somehow, and theytoured the whole house," Michael continued. "Lookin' all in our stuff. Findin' all ourmost private things. And Janet was here all by herself. It was scary. And sometimes,fans ask weird questions. They don't think you're real. Once a fan asked me the mostembarrassing question and in front of everyone. She said, "Do you go to thebathroom?" I was so embarrassed."

In the middle of the interview, the good-natured ribbing among the brothers turnednasty when someone brought up the subject of nicknames.

But Michael was not laughing. He seemed to curl up inside himself. The othersignored him, continuing their game until Michael seemed close to tears. He wouldhardly say anything the rest of the afternoon.

"That ain't funny, guys," Tito said in his monotone.

After the interview, we walked outside to take photographs in the warm Californiasunlight. Father Joseph Jackson, a hulking six-footer with a mole on his face, a pencilthinmustache, and a pinky ring with a diamond the size of a marble, cameswaggering into the yard. "The boys aren't taking any pictures," he said tophotographer Whyman.

"But the publicist from Epic said for us to come dressed for pictures," Marlonprotested."Maybe we can get a couple of shots with you in them," Whyman offered, hoping tocharm Joseph.

Joe considered the offer. He took a deep breath and puffed up his chest. "Let's takesome pictures, boys." After the picture session, the photographer and Michael wentoff to the aviaries nearby, which were stocked with large, colorful birds. JosephJackson approached me.

"You see, I have a philosophy about raising children," he suddenly said, although Ihadn't asked him a question. "My father was strict. He was a schoolteacher, and hetreated me like I was one of his students, not like I was his son. I never got any specialtreatment from him. And I'm glad that happened. I got a strict raising when I wasyoung, and I've been able to accomplish a lot because of that. And my kids havegotten a strict raising, and look at what they've accomplished. I think children shouldfear their parents more. It's good when they fear you a little. It's good for them, andit's good for the parents too. I did my best with those boys, the best I could do."

"Have they ever disappointed you?" I asked.Joe pondered the question. "Lots of times," he said. "Look at the thing with Jermaine.Jermaine's over there with Berry at Motown instead of with us. Chose Berry over me.Do you know how that makes me feel? It hurts deep. It hurts right here." Joe thumpedthe left side of his chest with a clenched fist.

"I've been disappointed lots of other times too," he continued. "But I don't think I haveever once let my boys down. If I did, too bad for them. You do the best you can do,raising kids. It helped that they had something to look forward to.

"My boys, they always had entertainment, and me to rehearse them. And they alsoplay character-building sports like football and baseball," he said proudly. "Did theytell you that? Jackie coulda been a baseball player if he wanted to. In the majors.Chicago White Sox. They're all good at sports. Except for Michael. Never picked up abat in his whole life." Joe smiled. "Wouldn't know what to do with a baseball bat. Wetease him about it, but he don't like that too much. Michael has always been very, verysensitive.

"Another thing you should know about Michael," Joe said, "is that ever since he wasfour, he wanted to be an entertainer. And he always wanted to be number one. That'swhy sports upsets him so much, cause his brothers can whip him and outdo him atsports and he can't be number one. But in music, Michael knows he's number one.Number one," Joe repeated, nodding his head. "That's what Michael has alwayswanted to be. Number one.

"And speakin' of Michael, Marlon told me what happened. You're not gonna writethat part about Michael's nickname, are you?" he asked.I told him I wasn't certain how I would handle it.He doesn't like that nickname they gave him. Liver Lips.""Liver Lips? They told me his nickname is Big Nose."

"Oh, yeah," Joe said. "That boy's so sensitive about his nose. Do you see anythingwrong with his nose?"I shook my head. "No, not at all.""Me neither," Joe said. "But that's all he ever talks about. His damn nose. Threatenedto have it fixed. What can he do with it?" Joe looked perplexed. "I told him I'd breakhis face if he ever had it fixed." He laughed. "You don't fix something that ain't broke.He's got a great nose. It looks like mine."

Afterwards, Michael returned to the living room for some final thoughts about his lifeand career. As the photographer and I watched, he crossed his left leg over his rightknee and began absentmindedly picking at his toenails.

"When I'm not onstage, I'm not the same. I'm different," he observed. "I think I'msome kind of stage addict. When I don't get onto a stage for a long time, I have fitsand get real crazy. I start crying, and I act weird and all freaked out. No kiddin', I do. Istart to dancin' round the house."

He began to talk rapidly. "It's like a part of me is missin' and I gotta get it back, causeif I don't, I won't be complete. So I gotta dance and I gotta sing, you know? I have thiscraving. Onstage is the only place I'm comfortable. I'm not comfortable around...," hepaused, searching for the right word, "normal people. But when I get out onstage, Ireally open up and I have no problems. Whatever is happening in my life don't matterno more. I'm up there and cuttin' loose and I say to myself, "This is it. This is home.

This is exactly where I'm supposed to be, where God meant for me to be." I'munlimited when I'm onstage. I'm number one. But when I'm off the stage," heshrugged his shoulders, "I'm not really..." Again he paused, trying to find the rightword. "Happy."

Earlier in the day, I had conducted an interview with Sidney Lumet, director of TheWiz. "Michael Jackson is the most gifted entertainer to come down the pike since, Iguess, James Dean," Lumet told me. "He's a brilliant actor and dancer, probably oneof the rarest entertainers I have ever worked with. His talent is awesome."

I shared Lumet's observation with Michael. He seemed embarrassed for a moment."Who's James Dean?" He asked.

Later, he began talking about his role as the Scarecrow in The Wiz. "What I like aboutmy character," he observed, "is his, I guess you could call it, his confusion. He knowsthat he has these, uh, these problems, I guess you could call them. But he doesn'tknow exactly why he has them or how he got that way. And he understands that hesees things differently from the way everyone else does, but he can't put his finger onwhy. He's not like other people. No one understands him. So he goes through hiswhole life with this, uh...," he paused, "confusion."

Michael Jackson looked away from his toenails for a split second. "Everybody thinkshe's very special," he concluded thoughtfully, "But, really, he's very sad. He's so, sosad. Do you understand?" He asked urgently. "Do you understand his sadness?"

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_________________Michael Jackson transcended our imaginations and continues to uplift our souls and spirits through his tremendously meaningful life well lived.

IT'S NOON, AND SOMEWHERE IN THE SAN FERNANDO Valley, the frontshades of a row of condos are lowered against a hazy glare. Through the metal gate,the courtyard is silent, except for the distance splat of a fountain against its plasticbasin. Then comes the chilling whine of a real-life Valley girl. "Grandmuther. I amnot gonna walk a whole block. It's humid. My hair will be brillo."And the soothing counterpoint of maternal encouragement: "Be good pup, Jolie. Makefor mama."

All along the courtyard's trimmed inner paths, poodles waddle about trailing poodlecutladies on pink leashes."Not what you expected, huh?" From behind a mask of bony fingers, Michael Jacksongiggles. Having settled his visitor on the middle floor of his own three-level condo,Michael explains that the residence is temporary, while his Encino, California, homeis razed and rebuilt. He concedes that this is an unlikely spot for a young prince ofpop.

It is also surprising to see that Michael has decided to face this interview alone. Hesays he has not done anything like this for over two years. And even when he did, itwas always with a cordon managers, other Jackson brothers and, in one case, hisyounger sister Janet parroting a reporter's questions before Michael would answerthem. The small body of existing literature paints him as excruciatingly shy. Heducks, he hides, he talks to his shoe tops. Or he just doesn't show up. He is known toconduct his private life with almost obsessive caution, "just like a hemophiliac whocan't afford to be scratched in any way." The analogy is his.

Run this down next to the stats, the successes, and it doesn't add up. He has been thefeatured player with the Jackson Five since grade school. In 1980, he stepped out ofthe Jacksons to record his own LP, Off the Wall, and it became the best-selling albumof the year. Thriller, his new album, is Number Five on the charts. And the list ofperformers now working with him--or wanting to--includes Paul McCartney, QuincyJones, Steven Spielberg, Diana Ross, Queen and Jane Fonda. On record, onstage, onTV and screen, Michael Jackson has no trouble stepping out. Nothing scares him, hesays. But this....

"Do you like doing this?" Michael asks. There is a note of incredulity in his voice, asthough he were asking the question of a coroner. He is slumped in a dining-roomchair, looking down into the lower level of the living room. It is filled with statuary.There are some graceful, Greco-Roman type bronzes, as well as a few pieces from thesuburban birdbath school. The figures are frozen around the sofa like some ghostly teaparty.

Michael himself is having little success sitting still. He is so nervous that he is eating--plowing through--a bag of potato chips. This is truly odd behavior. None of hisbrothers can recall seeing anything snacky pass his lips since he became a strictvegetarian health-food disciple six years ago. In fact, Katherine Jackson, his mother,worries that Michael seems to exist on little more than air. As far as she can tell, herson just has no interest in food. He says that if he didn't have to eat to stay alive, hewouldn't.

"I really do hate this," he says. Having polished off the chips, he has begun to fold andrefold a newspaper clipping. "I am much more relaxed onstage than I am right now.But hey, let's go." He smiles. Later, he will explain that "let's go" is what hisbodyguard always says when they are about to wade into some public fray. It's also aphrase Michael has been listening for since he was old enough to tie his own shoes.LET'S GO, BOYS. With that, Joe Jackson would round up his sons Jackie, Tito,Jermaine, Marlon and Michael. "Let's go" has rumbled from the brothers' preshowhuddle for more than three-quarters of Michael's life, first as the Jackson Five onMotown and now as the Jacksons on Epic. Michael and the Jacksons have sold over a100 million records. Six of their two dozen Motown singles went platinum; ten otherswent gold. He was just eleven in 1970 when their first hit, "I Want You Back,"nudged out B.J. Thomas' "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," for Number One.Michael says he knew at age five, when he sang "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" in schooland laid out the house, that something special was going on. Back then, suchprecocity frightened his mother. But years later it soothed hearts and coffers at Epicwhen Off the Wall sold over 5 million in the U.S., another 2 million worldwide andone of its hit singles, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," won him a Grammy. The LPyielded four Top Ten hit singles, a record for a solo artist and a feat attained only byFleetwood Mac's Rumours, and by the combined efforts on the Grease and SaturdayNight Fever soundtracks.

If a jittery record industry dared wager, the smart money would be on MichaelJackson. Recent months have found him at work on no fewer than three projects: hisown recently released Thriller; Paul McCartney's work-in-progress, which willcontain two Jackson-McCartney collaborations, "Say, Say, Say" and "The Man"; andthe narration and one song for the storybook E.T. album on MCA for director StevenSpielberg and producer Quincy Jones. In his spare time, he wrote and produced DianaRoss' single "Muscles." This indeed a young man in a hurry. Already he is lookingpast the album he is scheduled to make with the Jacksons this winter. There is achance of a spring tour. And then there are the movies. Since his role as the scarecrowin The Wiz, his bedroom has been hip-deep in scripts.

At twenty-four, Michael Jackson has one foot planted firmly on either side of theEighties. His childhood hits are golden oldies, and his boyhood idols have become hispeers. Michael was just ten when he moved into Diana Ross' Hollywood home. Nowhe produces her. He was five when the Beatles crossed over; now he and McCartneywrangle over the same girl on Michael's single "The Girl Is Mine." His showbizfriends span generations as well. He hangs out with the likes of such other kid stars asTatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol, and ex-kid star Stevie Wo nder. He gossips longdistance with Adam Ant and Liza Minnelli, and has heart-to-hearts with octogenarianFred Astaire. When he visited the set of On Golden Pond, Henry Fonda baitedfishbooks for him. Jane Fonda is helping him learn acting. Pen pal Katharine Hepburnbroke a lifelong habit of avoiding rock by attending a 1981 Jacksons concert atMadison Square Garden.

Even E.T. would be attracted to such a gentle spirit. according to Steven Spielberg,who says he told Michael, "If E.T. didn't come to Elliot, he would have come to yourhouse." Spielberg also says he thought of no one else to narrate the saga of histimorous alien. "Michael is one of the last living innocents who is in complete controlof his life. I've never seen anybody like Michael. He's an emotional star child."

CARTOONS ARE FLASHING SILENTLY ACROSS THE GIANT screen thatglows in the darkened den. Michael mentions that he loves cartoons. In fact, he lovesall things "magic." This definition is wide enough to include from Bambi to JamesBrown.

"He's so magic," Michael says of Brown, admitting that be patterned his ownquicksilver choreography on the Godfather's classic bag of stage moves. "I'd be in thewings when I was like six or seven. I'd sit there and watch him."

Michael's kindergarten was the basement of the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He wastoo shy to actually approach the performers the Jackson Five opened for--everyonefrom Jackie Wilson to Gladys Knight, the Temptations and Etta James. But he says hehad to know everything they did--how James Brown could do a slide, a spin and asplit and still make it back before the mike hit the floor. How the mike itselfdisappeared through the Apollo stage floor. He crept downstairs, along passagewaysand walls and hid there, peering from behind the dusty flanks of old vaudeville setswhile musicians tuned, smoked, played cards and divvied barbecue. Climbing backtothe wings, he stood in the protective folds of the musty maroon curtain, watchinghis favorite acts, committing every double dip and every bump, snap, whip-it-backmike toss to his inventory of night moves. Recently, for a refresher course, Michaelwent to see James Brown perform at an L.A. club. "He's the most electrifying. He cantake an audience anywhere he wants to. The audience just went bananas. He wentwild--and at his age. He gets so out of himself."

Getting out of oneself is a recurrent theme in Michael's life, whether the subject isdancing, singing or acting. As a Jehovah's Witness, Michael believes in an impendingholocaust, which will be followed by the second coming of Christ. Religion is a largepart of his life, requiring intense Bible study and thrice-weekly meetings at a nearbyKingdom Hall. He has never touched drugs and rarely goes near alcohol. Still, despitethe prophesied Armageddon, the spirit is not so dour as to rule out frequent hops onthe fantasy shuttle.

"I'm a collector of cartoons," he says. "All the Disney stuff, Bugs Bunny, the oldMGM ones. I've only met one person who has a bigger collection than I do, and I wassurprised--PaulMcCartney. He's a cartoon fanatic. Whenever I go to his house, wewatch cartoons. When we came here to work on my album, we rented all thesecartoons from the studio, Dumbo and some other stuff. It's real escapism. It's likeeverything's all right. It's like the world is happening now in a faraway city.Everything's fine.

"The first time I saw E.T., I melted through the whole thing," he says. "The secondtime, I cried like crazy. And then, in doing the narration, I felt like I was there withthem, like behind a tree or something, watching everything that happened."

So great was Michael's emotional involvement that Steven Spielberg found hisnarrator crying in the darkened studio when he got to the part where E.T. is dying.Finally, Spielberg and producer Quincy Jones decided to run with it and let Michael'svoice break. Fighting those feelings would be counterproductive--something Joneshad already learned while producing Off the Wall.

"I had a song I'd been saving for Michael called "She's Out of My Life," heremembers. "Michael heard it, and it clicked. But when he sang it, he would cry.Every time we did it, I'd look up at the end and Michael would be crying. I said, 'We'llcome back in two weeks and do it again, and maybe it won't tear you up so much.'Came back and he started to get teary. So we left it in."

This tug of war between the controlled professional and the vulnerable, privateMichael surfaces in the lyrics he has written for himself. In "Bless His Soul," a songon the Jacksons' Destiny LP that Michael says is definitely about him, he sings:Sometimes I cry cause I'm confused.

Is this a fact of being used?There is no life for me at allCause I give myself at beck and call.

Two of the Jackson-written cuts on Thriller strengthen that defensive stance. "Theyeat off you, you're a vegetable," he shouts on "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." "BeatIt," a tense, tough dance cut, flirts with paranoia" "You have to show them that you'rereally not scared/You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare/ They'll kickyou, then they beat you/Then they'll tell you it's fair."

Yes, he says, he feels used, declining specifics, saying only that in his profession,"They demand that, and they want you to do this. They think thay they own you, theythink they made you. If you don't have faith, you go crazy. Like not doing interviews.If I talk, I say what's on my mind, and it can seem strange to other peoples' ears. I'mthe kind of person who will tell it all, even though it's a secret. And I know that thingsshould be kept private."

For his own protection, Michael has rigged himself of a set of emotional floodgates,created situations where it's okay to let it all out. "Some circumstances require me tobe real quiet," he says. "But I dance every Sunday." On that day, he also fasts.This, his mother confirms, is a weekly ritual that leaves her son laid out, sweating,laughing and crying. It is also a ritual very similar to Michael's performances. Indeed,the weight of the Jacksons' stage show rests heavily on his narrow, sequinedshoulders. There is nothing tentative about his solo turns. He can tuck his long, thinframe into a figure skater's spin without benefit of ice or skates. Aided by the burnand flash of silvery body suits, he seems to change molecular structure at a will, allrobot angles one second and rippling curves the next. So sure is the body that his eyesare often closed, his face turned upward to some unseen muse. The bony chest heaves.He pants, bumps and squeals. He has been known to leap offstage and climb up into therigging.

At home, in his room, he dances until he falls down. Michael says the Sunday dancesessions are also an effective way to quiet his stage addiction when he is not touring.Sometimes in these off periods, another performer will call him up from the audience.And in the long, long trip from his seat to the stage, the two Michaels duke it out."I sit there and say, 'Please don't call me up, I am too shy,'" Jackson says. "But once Iget up there, I take control of myself. Being onstage is magic. There's nothing like it.You feel the energy of everbody who's out there. You feel it all over your body. Whenthe lights hit you, it's all over, I swear it is."

He is smiling now, sitting upright, trying to explain weightlessness to the earthbound."When it's time to go off, I don't want to. I could stay up there forever. It's the samething with making a movie. What's wonderful about a film is that you can becomeanother person. I love to forget. And lots of times, you totally forget. It's likeautomatic pilot. I mean--whew."

During shooting for The Wiz, he became so attached to his Scarecrow character, thecrew literally had to wrench him from the set and out of his costume. He was in Oz,and wasn't keen on leaving it for another hotel room.

"That's what I loved about doing E.T. I was actually there. The next day, I missed hima lot. I wanted to go back to that spot I was yesterday in the forest. I wanted to bethere."

Alas, he is still at the dining-room table in his condo. But despite the visible strain,he's holding steady. And he brightens at a question about his animals. He says he talksto his menagerie every day. "I have two fawns. Mr. Tibbs looks like a ram; he's gotthe horns. I've got a beautiful llama. His name is Louie." He's also into exotic birdslike macaws, cockatoos and a giant rhea.

"Stay right there," he says, "and I'll show you something." He takes the stairs to hisbedroom two at a time. Though I know we are the only people in the apartment, I hearhim talking.

"Aw, were you asleep? I'm sorry...."Seconds later, an eight-foot boa constrictor is deposited on the dining-room table. Heis moving in my direction at an alarming rate."This is Muscles. And I have trained him to eat interviewers."

Muscles, having made it to the tape recorder and flicked his tongue disdainfully,continues on toward the nearest source of warm blood. Michael thoughtfully picks upthe reptile as its snub nose butts my wrist. Really, he insists, Muscles is quite sweet.It's all nonsense, this stuff about snakes eating people. Besides, Muscles isn't evenhungry; he enjoyed his weekly live rat a couple of days ago. If anything, the stranger'spresence has probably made Muscles a trifle nervous himself. Coiled around hisowner's torso, his tensile strength has made Michael's forearm a vivid bas-relief ofstraining blood vessels. To demonstrate the snake's sense of balance, Michael sets himdown on a three-inch wide banister, where he will remain, motionless, for the nexthour or so.

"Snakes are very misunderstood," he says. Snakes, I suggest, may be the oldestvictims of bad press. Michael whacks the table and laughs."Bad press. Ain't it so, Muscles?

The snake lifts its head momentarily, then settles back on the banister. All three of usare a bit more relaxed."Know what I also love?" Michael volunteers. "Manikins,"

Yes, he means the kind you see wearing mink bikinis in Beverly Hills store windows.When his new house is finished, he says he'll have a room with no furniture, just adesk and a bunch of store dummies.

"I guess I want to bring them to life. I like to imagine talking to them. You know whatI think it is? Yeah, I think I'll say it. I think I'm accompanying myself with friends Inever had. I probably have two friends. And I just got them. Being an entertainer, youjust can't tell who is your friend. And they see you so differently. A star instead of anext-door neighbor."

He pauses, staring down at the living-room statues."That's what it is. I surround myself with people I want to be my friends. And I can dothat with manikins. I'll talk to them."

All of this is not to say that Michael is friendless. On the contrary, people areclamoring to be his friend. That's just the trouble: with such staggering numbersknocking at the gate, it becomes necessary to sort and categorize. Michael never had aschool chum. Or a playmate. Or a steady girlfriend. The two mystery friends hementioned are his first civilians. As for the rest....

"I know people in show business."Foremost is Diana Ross, with whom he shares his "deepest, darkest secrets" andproblems. But even when they are alone together, their world is circumscribed. Andthere's Quincy Jones, "who I think is wonderful. But to get out of the realm of showbusiness, to become like everybody else...."To forget. To get out of the performing self.

"Me and Liza, say. Now, I would consider her a great friend, but a show-businessfriend. And we're sitting there talking about this movie, and she'll tell me all aboutJudy Garland. And then she'll go, 'Show me that stuff you did at rehearsal.'" He feintsa dance move. "And I'll go, 'Show me yours.' We're totally into each other'sperformance."

This Micahel does not find odd, or unacceptable. It's when celebrity makes everygesture stars simply make up their minds to get on with things, no matter what. DianaRoss marched bravely into a Manhattan shoe store with her three daughters and I hadthem fitted for running shoes, despite the crowd of 200 that convened on the sidewalk.Michael, who's been a boy in a bubble since the age of reason, would find thatintolerable. He will go to only one L.A. restaurant, a health-food place where theowners know him. As for shopping, Michael avoids it by having a secretary or aidepick out clothes for him. "You don't get peace in a shop. If they don't know yourname, they know your voice. And you can't hide."

He won't say love stinks. But sometimes it smarts."Being mobbed hurts. You feel like you're spaghetti among thousands of hands.They're just ripping you and pulling your hair. And you feel that any moment you'regonna just break."

Thus, Michael must travel with the veiled secrecy of a pasha's prized daughter. Anytourism is attempted from behind shades, tinted limo glass and a bodyguard's somberserge. Even in a hotel room, he hears females squeal and scurry like so many mice inthe walls.

"Girls in the lobby, coming up the stairway. You hear guards getting them out ofelevators. But you stay in your room and write a song. And when you get tired of that,you talk to yourself. Then let it all out onstage. That's what it's like."

No argument -- it ain't natural. But about those store dummies? Won't it be just aseerie to wake up in the middle of the night to all those polystyrene grins?"Oh, I'll give them names. Like the statues you see down there." He motions to theliving-room crowd. "They've got names. I feel as if they know them. I'll go downthere and talk to them."

A restless rhthym is jiggling his foot, and the newspaper clipping has long beendestroyed. Michael is apologetic, explaining that he can sit still for just so long. On animpulse, he decides to drive us to the house under construction. Though his parentsforced him to learn two years ago, Michael rarely drives. When he does, he refuses totravel freeways, taking hour-long detours to avoid them. He has learned the way toonly a few "safe" zones--his brothers' homes, the health-food restaurant and theKingdom Hall.

First, Muscles must be put away. "He's real sweet," Michael says as he unwinds theserpent from the banister. "I'd like you to wrap him around you before you go."This is not meant as a prank, and Michael will not force the issue. But fear ofinterviews can be just as deep-rooted as fear of snakes, and in consenting to talk,Michael was told the same thing he's telling me now: Trust me. It won't hurt you.We compromise. Muscles cakewalks across an ankle. His tongue is dry. It just tickles.Block out the primal dread, and it could be a kitten whisker. "You truly believe," saysMichael, "with the power of reason, that this animal won't harm you now, right? Butthere's this fear, built in by the world, by what people say, that makes you shy awaylike that."

Having politely made their point, Michael and Muscles disappear upstairs.

Michael Jackson: Life In The Magical Kingdom by Gerri Hirshey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Part 2 cont.

"HI, MICHAEL." A few such girlish messages are scratched into the paint of asomber security sign on the steel driveway gate at his house. There is a fence, dogsand guards, but girls still will loiter outside, in cars and in bushes.

As Michael conducts the tour of the two-story Tudor-style house, it's clear that theroom he will sleep in is almost monkish compared to those he has had designed forhis pleasures and the ones reserved for his sisters Janet and LaToya, who pored overevery detail of their wallpapered suites. "Girls are fussy," he explains, stepping over apower saw in his bedroom. "I just don't care. I wanted room to dance and have mybooks."

The rooms Michael inspects most carefully are those marked for recreation. "I'mputting all this stuff in," he says, "so I will never have to leave and go out there." The"stuff" includes a screening room with two professional projectors and a giantspeaker. And then an exercise room, one for videogames and another with a giantscreenvideo system. In addition, there is a huge chamber off the backyard patio,which has been designated the Pirate Room. It will be not so much decorated aspopulated. More dummies. But this set will talk back. Michael has been consultingwith a Disney technician, the very man who designed the Audio-Animatronics figuresfor the Disneyland ride Pirates of the Caribbean. If all goes well, he will installseveral scowling, scabbard-waving buccaneers, wenches and sea dogs right here."There won't be any rides," Michael says. "But there will be a pirate shootout,cannons guns. They'll just scream at one another and I'll have the lights, sounds,everything."

Pirates is one of his favorite rides in the Magic Kingdom. And Disneyland is one ofthe few public spots even he cannot stay away from. Sometimes Michael stops at amagic booth and buys one of those Groucho Masks -- fake glasses with nose attached.But it's better when the staff leads him through back doors and tunnels. It's murder tocross the Court of Sleeping Beauty's Castle in daylight. "I tried to go just last night,but it was closed," he says with some disbelief. "So was Knott's Berry Farm."If you live in the funhouse, you usually don't have to worry about such things.

Michael has sung it himself:Life ain't so bad at all, if you live it off the wall.

WHEN WE ARRIVE BACK AT THE condo, Michael finds that a test pressing of"The Girl is Mine" has been delivered. This is business. He must check it beforerelease, he explains, as he heads for a listen on the stereo in the den. Before the recordis finished, he is puching at phone buttons. In between calls to accountants andmanagers, he says that he makes all his own decisions, right down to the last sequinon his stage suits -- the only clothes he cares about. He says he can be a mercilessinterviewer when it comes to choosing management, musicians and concert promoters.

He assesses their performances with the rigor of an investigative reporter,questioning his brothers, fellow artists and even reporters for observations. Though hetruly believes his talent comes from God, he is acutely aware of its value on the openmarket. He is never pushy or overbearing, but he does appreciate respect. Do not askhim, for insurance, how long he has been with a particular show-business firm. "Askme," he corrects, "how long they've been with me."

Those who have worked with him do not doubt his capability. Even those to whom heis a star child. "He's in full control," says Spielberg. "Sometimes he appears to otherpeople to be sort of wavering on the fringes of twilight, but there is great consciousforethought behind everything he does. He's very smart about his career and thechoices he makes. I think he is definitely a man of two personalities."

When Michael was looking for a producer for his solo album, Quincy Jones washappy to hear from him. Jones knew Michael was in a special class. A few thingstipped him off, he says. First there was the Academy Awards ceremony at whichJones watched twelve-year-old Michael deliver a trash-flick love song to a fascistrodent ("Ben") with astounding poise. Years later, while working with him on TheWiz soundtrack, Jones says, "I saw another side. Watching him in the context of beingan actor, I saw a lot of things about him as a singer that rang a lot of bells. I saw adepth that was never apparent, and a commitment. I saw that Michael was growingup."

In the studio, Jones found that his professionalism had matured. In fact, Michael'snose for things is so by-your-leave funky that Jones started calling him Smelly.Fortunately, when corporate rumblings feared the partnership too unlikely to work,Smelly hung tough and cocked an ear inward to his own special rhythms.

Indeed, Off the Wall's most memorable cuts are the Jackson-penned dance tunes."Working Day and Night" with all its breathy asides and deft punctuation, could only have beenwritten by a dancer. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," the album's biggest-sellingsingle, bops along with that same appealing give-and-go between restraint andabandon.

The song begins with Michael talking in a low mumble over a taut, singlestringbass bomp:"You know, I was wonderin'...you know the force, it's got a lot of power, make mefeel like a...make me feel like...."

Ooooooh. Fraidy cat breaks into disco monster, with onrushing strings and a sexy,cathartic squeal. The introduction is ten seconds of perfect pop tension. Dance boogieis the welcome release. The arrangement -- high, gusting strings and vocals over athudding, in-the-pocket rhythm -- is Michael's signature. Smelly, the funky sprite.It works. Such a creature as Michael is the perfect pop hybrid for Eighties. Thefanzine set is not scared off by raunchy lyrics and chest hair. But the R-rated uptowndance crowd can bump and slide right along the greasy tracks.

Thriller is eclectic enough to include African chants and some ripping macho-rock guitar work by Eddie Van Halen. It is now being called pop-soul by those into marketing categories.

Michael says he doesn't care what anybody wants to call it. Just how it all came aboutis still a mystery to him--as is the creative process itself.

"I wake up from dreams and go, 'Wow, put this down on paper,'" he says. "The wholething is strange. You hear the words, everything is right there in front of your face.And you say to yourself, 'I'm sorry, I just didn't write this. It's there already.' That'swhy i hate to take credit for the songs I've written. I feel that somewhere, someplace,it's been done and I'm just a courier bringing it into the world. I really believe that. Ilove what I do. I'm happy at what I do. It's escapism."

Again, that word. But Michael is right. There is no better definition for good, wellmeaning,American pop. Few understand this better than Diana Ross, that Tamla teenturned latter-day pop diva. Her closeness to Michael began when she met theJacksons.

"No, I didn't discover them," she says, countering the myth. Motown head BerryGordy had already found them; she simply introduced them on her 1971 televisionspecial. "There was an identification between Michael and I," she says. "I was older,he kind of idolized me, and he wanted to sing like me."

She has been pleased to watch Michael become his own person. Still, she wishes hewould step out even more. She says she had to be firm and force him to stay in hisrole as producer on "Muscles." He wanted them to do it jointly. She insisted he go italone.

"He spends a lot of time, too much time, by himself. I try to get him out. I rented aboat and took my children and Michael on a cruise. Michael has a lot of peoplearound him, but he's very afraid. I don't know why. I think it came from the earlydays."

Michael's show-business friends, many of them women not thought of as especiallymotherly, do go to great lengths to push and prod him into the world, and to keep himcomfortable. When he's in Manhattan, Ross urges him to go to the theater and theclubs, and counteroffers with quiet weekends at her Connecticut home. In notes andphone calls, Katharine Hepburn has been encouraging about his acting.

Michael has recorded much of this counsel in notebooks and on tape. Visiting JaneFonda -- whom he's known since they met at a Hollywood party a few years ago--onthe New Hampshire set of On Golden Pond proved to be an intensive crash course. Ina mirror version of his scenes with the stepgrandson in the movie, Henry fonda tookhis daughter's rockstar friend out on the lake and showed him how to fish. They sat ona jetty for hours, talking trout and theater. The night Fonda died, Michael spent theevening with Fonda's widow, Shirlee, and his children Jane and Peter. He says theysat around, laughing and crying and watching the news reports. The ease with whichMichael was welcomed into her family did not surprise Jane Fonda. Michael and herfather got on naturally, she says, because they were so much alike.

"Dad was also painfully self-concious and shy in life," she says, "and he really onlyfelt comfortable when he was behind the mask of a character. He could liberatehimself when he was being someone else. That's a lot like Michael.

"In some ways," she continues, "Michael reminds me of the walking wounded. He'san extremely fragile person. I think that just getting on with life, making contact withpeople, is hard enough, much less to be worried about whither goest the world.

"I remember driving with him one day, and I said, 'God, Michael, I wish I could find amovie I could produce for you.' And suddenly I knew. I said, 'I know what you've gotto do. It's Peter Pan.' Tears welled up in his eyes and he said, 'Why did you say that?'with this ferocity. I said, 'I realize you're Peter Pan.' And he started to cry and said,'You know, all over the walls of my room are pictures of Peter Pan. I've readeerything that [author J.M.] Barrie wrote. I totally identify with Peter Pan, the lost boyof neven-never land.'"

Hearing that Francis Coppola may be doing a film version, Fonda sent word to himthat he must talk to Michael Jackson. "Oh, I can see him," she says, "leading lostchildren into a world of fantasy and magic."

In the book, that fantasy world lies "second to the right star, then straight on tilmorning" -- no less strange a route, Fonda notes, than Michael's own journey fromIndiana."From Gary," she says, "straight on to Barrie."

ALL CHILDREN, EXCEPT ONE, grow up. This is the first line of Michael's favoritebook, and if you ask Katherine Jackson if she finds this similar to what happened inher own brood of nine, she will laugh and say, oh yes, her fifth son is the one.Five children -- Maureen, Tito, Jackie, Jermaine and Marlon -- are married and havefamilies. LaToya is a very independent young woman. At thirteen, Janet was starringas a self-possessed ghetto twerp on the sitcom Good Times. Now she has a hit singleof her own, "Young Love," and appears in the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. Youngestbrother Randy is already living on his own at twenty. Michael is sure he'd just die ifhe tried that.

"LaToya once told me she thinks that I over protected them all," Mrs. Jackson says."But under the circumstances, I truly don't think so."

Marriage had brought her from east Indiana, just outside Chicago, to the chillyindustrial town of Gary. A growing family had forced Joe Jackson to disband theFalcons, and R & B group he had formed with his two brothers. Playing Chuck Berryand Fats Domino covers in local clubs was as far as they got. The guitar went to thesteel mills as a crane operator. The family budget didn t have a lot of slack for toys,but there was an old saxophone, a tambourine, some bongos and a homey patchworkof songs from Katherine's childhood. What she could remember, she taught herchildren. "It was just plain stuff," she says, "like 'Cotton Fields' and 'You Are MySunshine.'

The breadth of the harmony grew with the family. Jackie, Jermaine and Tito startedsinging together, with Tito on guitar and Jermaine on bass. Then Marlon climbedaboard. Baby Michael, who liked to flail on the bongos, surprised his mother one daywhen she heard him imitating Jermaine's lead vocals in his clear toddler's falsetto. "Ithink we have another lead singer," she told her husband. The brothers agreed.

"He was so energetic that at five years old, he was like a leader," says Jackie, at thirtyonethe oldest brother. "We saw that. So we said, 'Hey Michael, you be the lead guy.'The audience ate it up. He was into those James Brown things at the time, you know.The speed was the thing. He would see somebody do something, and he could do itright away."

"It was sort of frightening," his mother says. "He was so young. He didn'tgo out and play much. So if you want me to tell you the truth, I don't know where he got it. He just knew."

By the age of seven, Michael was a dance monster, working out the choreography forthe whole group. Local gigs were giving way to opening slots at larger halls in distantcities. Joe Jackson spent weekends and evenings as chauffeur, road manager, agentand coach. He taught Michael how to work a stage and handle a mike. Michael doesnot remember his father making it fun; the boys always knew it was work. Rules werestrict. Grades had to be kept up, even with five shows a night, or the offender wouldbe yanked off the road. When Motown called, Joe took the boys to Detroit, andKatherine stayed in Gary with the rest of the children. She says she never reallyworried about her children until she went to a show and heard the screams from theaudience. "Every time I'd go to a concert I'd worry, because sometimes the girlswould get onstage and I'd have top watch them tearing at Michael. He was so small,and they were so big."

There have been some serious incidents, too, one so chilling and bizarre it landed ayoung woman in a mental institution. So Katherine Jackson has made it her businessto talk to some of these wild, persistent girls. What is so very crazy, she says, is thatthey do it in the name of love. "There are so many," she says. "You have no ideawhat's really on their minds. That's why it's going to be so hard for my son to get awife."

Michael is aware of, if not resigned to, the impossibility of that task. He might like tohave children in the future, but says he would probably adopt them. For now, he hasonly to walk into one of his brother's homes and he's instantly covered with nephews.He says he gets along with children better than adults, anyhow: "They don't wearmasks."

Kids and animals can nose their way into Michael's most private reserves. It's theshowbiz spook show that makes his own growing up so public and hard. He hasborne, with patience and good humor, the standard rumors of sex-change operationsand paternity accusations from women he has never seen. But clearly they haveaffected him. "Billie Jean," on Thriller, is a vehement denial of paternity ("the kid isnot my son"). In reality there has been no special one. Michael says that he is not in ahurry to jump into any romantic liaison.

"It's like what I told you about finding friends," he says. "With that, it's even harder.With so many girls around, how am I ever gonna know?"

"JUST HERE TO SEE A FRIEND." Michael is politely trying to sidestep aninquiring young woman decked out with the latest video equipment. She blocks thecorridor leading to the warren of dressing rooms beneath the L.A. Forum."Can i tell my viewers that Michael Jackson is a Queen fan?"

"I'm a Freddie Mercury fan," he says, slipping past her into a long room crowded withQueen band members, wives, roadies and friends. A burly man with the look of alineback is putting lead singer Freddie Mercury through a set of stretching exercisesthat will propel his road-weary muscles through the final show of the group's recentU.S. tour. The band is merry. Michael is shy, standing quietly at the door until Freddiespots him and leaps up to gather him in a hug.

Freddie invited Michael. He has been calling all week, mainly about the possibility oftheir working together. They've decided to try it on the Jacksons' upcoming album.Though they are hardly alike -- Freddie celebrated a recent birthday by hanging nakedfrom a chandelier -- the two have been friendly since Michael listened to the materialQueen had recorded for The Game and insisted that the single had to be "Another OneBites the Dust."

"Now listens to me, right Freddie?""Righto, little brother."

The linebacker beckons. Freddie waves his cigarette at the platters of fruit, fowl andcandy. "You and your friends make yourselves comfortable."

Our escort, a sweet-faced, hamfisted bodyguard, is consulting with security about seatlocations. There had been girls lurking outside the condo when Michael sprinted tothe limousine, girls peering through the tinted glass as the door locks clicked shut.This was all very puzzling to Michael's guest, who has waiting in the car.

he is a real friend, one of the civilians, so normal as to pass unseen by the jaded eyesof celebrity watchers. He has never been to a rock concert, nor has he ever seenMichael perform. He says he hopes to, but mainly, they just hang out together.Sometimes his younger brother even tags along. Most of the time they just talk "justregular old stuff," says the friend. For Michael, it is another kind of magic.

At the moment, though, it's show business as usual. Gossip, to be specific. Michael isquestioning a dancer he knows about the recent crises of a fallen superstar. Michaelwants to know what the problem is. The dance mimes his answer, laying a fingeralongside his nose. Michael nods, and translates for his friend: "Drugs. Cocaine."Michael admits that he seeks out such gossip, and listen again and again as the famousblurt out their need for escape. "Escapism," he says. "I totally understand."

But addictions are another thing. "I always want to know what makes goodperformers fall to pieces," he says. "I alway try to find out. Because I just can't believeit's the same things that get them time and time again." So far, his own addictions--thestage, dancing, cartoons--have been free of toxins.

Something's working on Michael now, but it is nothing chemical. He's buzzing like abumblebee trapped in a jely jar. It's the room we're in, he explains. So many times,he's stretched and bounced and whipped up on his vocal chords right here, got crazyin here, pumping up, shivering like some flighty race horse as he wriggled into hissequined suit.

"I can't stand this," he fairly yells. "I cannot sit still."

Just before he must be held down for his own good. Randy Jackson rockets into theroom, containing his brother in a bear hug, helping him dissipate some of the energywith a short bout of wrestling. This is not the same creature who tried to hide behind apotato chip.

Now Michael is boxing with the bodyguard, asking every minute for the time until theman mercifully claps a big hand on the shoulder of his charge and says it: "Let's go."Mercury and company have already begun moving down the narrow hall, and beforeanyone can catch him, Michael is drawn into their wake, riding on the low roar of thecrowd outside, leaping up to catch a glimpse of Freddie, who is raising a fist andabout to take the stairs to the stage.

As the kinetic and magnetic leader of The Jacksons, whose 1984 Victory Tourattracted the largest concert crowds and sold the most tickets in the history of showbusiness, Michael Jackson is an extraordinary human being who is beyond category.Although he has been out front and outstanding for 20 years, the 26-year-oldsinger/songwriter/dancer and actor was not recognized as a super-super-star until hisThriller album became the best-selling LP of all time. Since then, much has beenwritten about him, but the man behind the superstar is still a mystery and a mediaenigma.

The White media’s Michael Jackson, portrayed mostly through gossip, rumors, hype,and sometimes slander, is not the Michael I have watched and reported on since heemerged from the anonymity of the steel town of Gary, Indiana in 1970. That MichaelJackson - the Michael Jackson nobody knows - is warm, sensitive, vibrant, keenlyaware of the mysteries of life and the wonder and magic of children. Several monthsago he told me that he was tired of the wave of lies in the White press.

What he said then was reflected in the extraordinary and revealing statement he issued at a press conference through his manager, Frank Dileo:

“For some time now, I have been searching my conscience as to whether or not Ishould publicly react to the many falsehoods that have been spread about me. I havedecided to make this statement based on the injustice of these allegations and the far reaching trauma those who feel close to me are suffering."

“I feel very fortunate to have been blessed with recognition for my efforts. Thisrecognition also brings with it a responsibility to one’s admirers throughout the world.Performers should always serve as role models who set an example for young people.It saddens me that many may actually believe the present flurry of false accusations.”

“To that end, and I do mean END -“No! I’ve never taken hormones to maintain my high voice.”“No! I’ve never had my cheekbones altered in any way.”“No! I’ve never had cosmetic surgery on my eyes.”

“YES!! One day in the future I plan to get married and have a family. Any statementsto the contrary are simply untrue.”“Henceforth, as new fantasies are printed, I have advised my attorneys of mywillingness to institute legal action and subsequently prosecute all guilty to the fullestextent of the law.”

“As noted earlier, I love children. We all know that kids are very impressionable andtherefore susceptible to such stories. I’m certain that some have already been hurt bythis terrible slander. In addition to their admiration, I would like to continue to keeptheir respect.”

Michael Joseph Jackson, whose middle name is his father’s first, earned respect theold-fashioned way - the same way he earned the title “The World’s GreatestEntertainer”.

His Thriller album has sold over 35 million copies and is still selling. He earns anestimated $2 from the album’s $5 wholesale price and has pocketed some $70 millionfrom worldwide sales.

He organized and now heads corporations that handle his business affairs, includingMichael Jackson, Inc., which handles profits from his album and video royalties;Experiments In Sound, which deals with new techniques in recording; and OptimumProductions, which produces his music videos and video versions of records of otherartists.

The top winner of record and video awards, he received an unprecedented eightAmerican Music Awards, a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards, and the MTVVideo Award.

Born the fifth of six talented sons of Joseph and Katherine Jackson in Gary, Indiana,26 years ago (August 29, 1958), he is a positive thinker and a creative artist who ismotivated by a deep concern for all of humankind and an unyielding love for hisprofession. His love for fans who have become admirers is, perhaps, without parallel.Love is what made Michael endure one of the most pressure-filled concert tours of hiscareer. Even though The Jacksons Victory Tour is expected to gross over $70 million,he didn’t perform for the love of money. He said he did it for the love of family, fans,and favorite charities. Although it was projected that his parents, who organized thetour with boxing impresario Don King, could each earn $5 million and each brotherpocket about $7.5 million, Michael announced that his share of the concert earningswould go to three worthy causes. They are the United Negro College Fund (UNCF),Camp Good Times for terminally ill children, and the T.J. Martell Foundation forLeukemia and Cancer research.

He is also giving earnings from a special album called Let’s Beat It, to charity. He isdoing it, he says, because children inspired him to write the hit single, Beat It,“Children are my biggest inspiration in anything I do,” Michael told this writer. “Iadore children - crazy about them. I wanted to write a song, the type of rock song thatI would buy….I wanted the kids to really enjoy it, the school kids, as well as thecollege kids,” said the sensitive songwriter whose two favorite songs areTchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite and Peter and the Wolf.

He spoke of the song, Be Not Always, which he wrote with a little help from hisbrother, Marlon. In the sensitive, sentimental song recorded in The Jacksons’ Victoryalbum, Michael makes a tearful plea to change a world in which “mothers cry, babiesdie helplessly in arms…” He observed that all of his brothers feel the same way aboutchildren, “not just me.”

Recalling that the late superstar Josephine Baker, an entertainer he admired, had aUnited Nations of children that she had adopted, Michael smiled broadly and saidwith assurance:“I’m going to have children of my own, but I’m going to adopt as many races as I can.That is what I’m going to do. I love children. Like Emmanuel Lewis (tiny, 12-yearoldstar of TV’s Webster series), he’s a real inspiration.”

Nothing, however, inspires the proud performer more than his family and fans. Hetalked about this shortly after newspapers circulated reports that he had been spoiledby the success of his Thriller LP and the proliferation of music awards, whichincluded EBONY’s American Black Achievement Award.

“Because I have achieved a lot of broken records with Off The Wall [album] and I’vebeen the lead singer for the longest and now with Thriller, which is the all-time bestand everything, I’m not planning on leaving,” he said of a rumor that he plans to leavethe Jacksons after the tour. “They are my brothers [Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon,and Randy] and I love them all dearly and I think the media begin to look forsomething to sell papers and they make up things and they twist them.”

Michael said at the beginning of the tour, “I’m doing it for the joy of touring and thefamily as a whole, and for the kids out there who bought the records. I’m a stageaddict. I have to be on the stage.” Once during an interview at his California home,where he still resides with his parents and sister, LaToya, Michael said, “I would likeyou to put this in quotations: ‘My main love for what I do is the admirers. I love thefans. Like when I’m doing a show and I see the fans out there dancing and screaming,excited, and we’re bringing that joy to them, that’s what I love most. And it’s just thegreatest feeling in the world. You’re up there and you’re giving them that energy andthat love and they’re just throwing it right back at you. And it’s great. And that’s mymain love, the stage and making those admirers happy.’”

As the interview continues, Michael talks of many subjects that reveal things abouthim that have been overlooked in the media’s rush for rumors. Here are some of hisviews:

EBONY: You have to cope with a lot of stress and pressure in the entertainmentbusiness. People make all kinds of requests of you and propositions come fromall directions. How do you cope with these stresses and pressures?

MICHAEL: I cope with it in a way and I’m not calling myself Jesus because I wouldnever even look at myself on the same level, but I’m comparing it to Jesus becausewhat god gave to him was for a reason and he preached and people came about himand he didn’t get angry and push them aside and say leave me alone, I ain’t got time.

EBONY: But you must encounter some fans who pressure you and provoke you.MICHAEL: I do get angry at times because there are those who will come up to youwith the worst attitude and will say to you, ‘Sit down, sign my baby’s paper.’ They’llthrow it at you. I’ll say, ‘Do you have a pen?’ ‘You don’t have a pen? Well, go getone.’ That’s what they’ll actually tell me….I’m amazed by some of the people. Theythink they own you. And they’ll say to you, ‘Listen, I made you what you are.’ I say,‘Wait a minute. You didn’t just buy it [album] to help me. You bought it because youlike it and that’s true.’

EBONY: You are looked upon as a role model. You once appeared at theChicago Public Library to encourage young people and adults to read, and abook marker souvenir was distributed with a quotation from you. Do you stillenjoy reading?

MICHAEL: I love to read. I wish I could advise more people to read. There’s awhole other world in books. If you can’t afford to travel, you travel mentally throughreading. You can see anything and go any place you want to in reading.

EBONY: Have you had a chance to do any reading related to the Blackexperience or in terms of Black history?

MICHAEL: Oh, yes! I’m really thankful for what Mr. [John H.] Johnson has done inbringing books through Johnson Publications….I think it’s good to show we arecontributing to the world in many ways. That’s what a lot of people think - that wehaven’t.

EBONY: How do you keep up with what Black people today are doing, saying,and thinking? And who are some of the people, other than your family and closeassociates, who influence your thinking?

MICHAEL: I love the way [John H.] Johnson runs his organization. Seems likeeverybody’s really nice. I’m sure there are quarrels and things, but everybody’s verynice….and have such an influence on the young. People rule their lives by JET andEBONY. I mean, they get their information from those two magazines and the youngkids, too. I’ll say, where did you read it? I read it in JET. And they keep up withwhat’s happening in JET and EBONY. And I think that’s wonderful…God, I admirepeople like Johnson and [Walt] Disney. I think they’re phenomenal.

EBONY: You talk of the influence of books and people in your life. What partdoes travel play in shaping your attitudes and outlook on life?

MICHAEL: I think before anybody gets married, they should really travel the worldif they can. It’s the most incredible education I’ve ever had. I think it’s phenomenal. Imean just to see the different cultures of people, the different faces, to talk to peopleand just to learn and see….When I traveled I was amazed. When we first went toSwitzerland, I almost started crying. I really did.

EBONY: What touched you about that trip to bring about that emotionalresponse?MICHAEL: The beauty. It’s like, oh, God, it’s crying out in the sky. It’s anincredible country and it inspires me to see these things - the mountains. The picturesdon’t do justice to Switzerland. Then there’s the Netherlands and France. Gosh,they’re incredible, too!

EBONY: Obviously, when you travel, you are more than a tourist, you are anobserver.MICHAEL: Well, a lot of people just stay in the cities when they travel. They shouldget out and see the real country. Wherever you go, man-made things are man-made,but you gotta get out and see God’s beauty.

EBONY: In your travels, what were some of the countries that impressed youmost?MICHAEL: I’m gonna raise my hand on this one. I’ll say this. I always thought thatthe Blacks, as far as artistry, were a talented race of people. But when I went toAfrica, I was even more convinced. They did some incredible things over there. [WestAfrican countries, including Senegal]. We went to one place out in the flatlands whereall these Africans sell their crafts and everything. I went to this one hut where this guymade incredible carvings….He took a piece of wood and a hatchet-like thing andstarted chopping and I just sat there amazed. He carved a big face…dipped it in somewater…dried it off and he gave it to me and I paid for it.

EBONY: You seem impressed by African art but what about African music anddance?MICHAEL: When we came off the plane in [Dakar, Senegal] Africa, we weregreeted by a long line of African dancers. Their drums and sounds filled the air withrhythm. I was going crazy, I was screaming. I said, ‘All right!’ They got the beat andthey got the rhythm….I just was so glad about the whole thing. This is it, I said. Thisis where I come from. The origin….

EBONY: You were obviously impressed by your musical roots, so where do youthink the Africans derived their musical influence?MICHAEL: Music started with nature. Music is nature. Birds make music. Oceansmake music. Wind makes music. Any natural sound is music. And that’s where itstarted….You see, we’re just making a replica of nature, which is the sounds we hearoutside.

EBONY: Did your travels have any influence on the way you think about racesof people?MICHAEL: The main thing that I hate most is ignorance, like the prejudice problemsof America. I know it is worse in some other countries. But I wish I could borrow,like from Venezuela or Trinidad, the real love of color-blind people and bring it toAmerica….

EBONY: You are making some observations with intense feelings. Pleasecontinue.MICHAEL: I’m prejudiced against ignorance. That’s what I’m mainly prejudicedagainst. It’s only ignorance and it’s taught because it’s not genetic at all. The littlechildren in those [countries] aren’t prejudiced. I would like for you to put this inquotes, too. I’m really not a prejudiced person at all. I believe that people should thinkabout God more and creation….Look at the many wonders inside the human body -the different colors of organs, colors of blood - and all these different colors do adifferent thing in the human body. It’s the most incredible system in the world; itmakes an incredible building, the human being. And if this can happen with thehuman body, why can’t we do it as people? And that’s how I feel. And that’s why Iwish the world could do more. That’s the only thing I hate. I really do.

EBONY: What you have just said is not only compassionate but compelling.How do you communicate such feelings since you don’t make public appearancesto express your views in public forums?

MICHAEL: I try to write, put it in song. Put it in dance. Put it in my art to teach theworld. If politicians can’t do it, I want to do it. We have to do it. Artists, put it inpaintings. Poets, put it in poems, novels. That’s what we have to do. And I think it’sso important to save the world.

EBONY: Stevie Wonder apparently shares similar feelings, judging by some ofhis musical messages.MICHAEL: That’s why I love Stevie Wonder’s biggest-selling album called Songsin the Key of Life. He has a song on that album called Black Man….I just jumped upscreaming when I heard that record because he’s showing the world what the Blackman has done and what other races have done, and he balanced it beautifully byputting other races in there, what they have done. Then he brings out what the BlackMan has done. Instead of naming it another thing, he named it Black Man. That’swhat I loved about it….And that’s the best way to bring about the truth, through song.And that’s what I love about it.

EBONY: You don’t seem to have any objections to messages in music as long asthe messages are positive. Your music, unlike some artists, stays clear ofmessages glorifying drugs. But drugs are a reality. How do you view it?

MICHAEL: In the field I’m in, there is a lot of that and it gets offered to me all thetime. People even go as far as to just…stick it in your pocket and walk off. Now, if itwas a good thing, they wouldn’t do that….I mean, would somebody drop somethingbeautiful in my pocket and just walk off? But I don’t want to have anything to do withany of that. I mean, as corny as it sounds, but this is how I really believe: Naturalhighs are the greatest highs in the world….Who wants to take something and just sitaround for the rest of the day after you take it [drugs], and don’t know who you are,what you’re doing, where you are? Take in something that’s gonna inspire you to dogreater things in the world.

EBONY: Do you put God or religion in that process of a natural high?MICHAEL: Oh, yes, God, really. I believe in the Bible and I try to follow the Bible.I know I’m an imperfect person….I’m not making myself an angel because I’m not anangel and I’m not a devil either. I try to be the best I can and I try to do what I think isright. It’s that simple. And I do believe in God.

EBONY: Do prayers or praying play a role in your life?MICHAEL: I pray every night. I don’t just pray at night. I pray at different timesduring the day. When I see something beautiful, whenever I see beautiful scenery -like when I’m flying or something -- I say, oh, God, that’s beautiful. And I always saylittle prayers like that all through the day. I love beauty.

EBONY: Speaking of beauty, you have been associated in a public way withmany beautiful people, including your beautiful sisters, LaToya, Rebbie, andJanet, but also Diana Ross, Tatum O’Neal, and Brooke Shields. You have beenlinked romantically with the latter two. Someone said you and Tatum had a lotin common: the parents of both of you are protective - she’s a daddy’s [RyanO’Neal] girl and you’re a momma’s [Katherine Jackson] boy.

MICHAEL: I want all those people who read JET and EBONY to just know thatwe’re mainly good friends. That’s the main thing. I think for guys, girls make the bestfriends. And for girls, guys make the best friends.

EBONY: What is your relationship with Brooke? When did you meet and hasthat relationship developed?MICHAEL: We met at the Academy Awards. She asked me to dance because I wasnot going to ask her. You know, I’m really shy and embarrassed. So she says, ‘I got todance with you tonight.’ I said, great. So we got together on the dance floor anddanced. They were playing that old-fashioned Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorseymusic, which wasn’t much of a groove. First, you’ve got all these bald-headed oldpeople on the floor slow dancing, the Lawrence Welk sound. We really couldn’t getinto it so we got to talking and got to know each other. We switched numbers and hadphone conversations back and forth and we became real good friends.

EBONY: Does this mean that Brooke has replaced Tatum as a special friend?MICHAEL: Tatum calls me all the time and I hope she reads this interview becauseI’m sorry I couldn’t get all of her calls. But she’s still a wonderful friend of mine.

EBONY: Both Tatum and Brooke are fine actresses. You did all right in TheWiz. What’s in the future for you now in films?MICHAEL: I’m very excited about a lot of things that I want to do and that I’mgoing to do in films and things. I really can’t wait….Since The Wiz, incredible offershave come to me, things that are still in the making.

EBONY: You once said that you will be careful about choosing your next role sothat you won’t be typecast anymore. You said that since The Wiz, some peoplestill call you Scarecrow because of that character role you played.

MICHAEL: Whatever role you play, people link it with your personality. But it’sacting. You’re portraying another person….I wish it wasn’t called acting because Idon’t really like actors. I mean, the word acting.

EBONY: Please elaborate.MICHAEL: I don’t think acting should be acting. Acting, if you’re acting, you’reimitating realism. You should create realism. It should be called believing. You see, Ialways was against it when I thought about acting. I don’t want to see an actor. I wantso see a believer. I don’t want to see anybody that’s gonna imitate the truths. It’s notreal then. I want to see a person that’s gonna believe the truth….That’s when youmove an audience.

EBONY: What kind of questions do you wish you would be asked but nobodyever asks you?MICHAEL: That’s a good question. Probably about children or writing, or what Ijust talked about….You don’t make a better world of minds and things when peopleput the wrong things in their lyrics and give the wrong views on stage and everything.It’s just so important and I think this can lead so many people astray, because an artistcan be built up so big in his career that this could change the whole world by what hedoes and thinks. They’ll listen to him before the President or any of these bigpoliticians. You have to be careful. They could change these peoples’ way of life bywhat they say and do. That’s why it’s important to give off love vibes and that’s why Ilove what I do….When Marvin Gaye put out the album, What’s Going On, so manyBlacks as well as Whites - but mainly Blacks-were educated. ‘Wake up. What’s goingon? Wake up.’ I mean the ones that don’t watch the news, don’t read the papers toreally dig in the depths of humanism. What’s going on? Wake up.

EBONY: There have been some campaigns against so-called dirty lyrics songs bysome popular musical groups. Do you have any views about such groups andtheir lyrics?

MICHAEL: Sometimes they go too far. They don’t leave anything for theimagination. If I just walked out on stage naked, there’s no imagination. I’m notletting them imagine what I look like without the clothes. But you see, they overdoit….We got to leave them something to imagine. People go too far at times. I thinkit’s important to set the right example because there are so many kids who look up tous.

As the most productive year of his entertainment career comes to a close and histalents helped him gross about $100 million, Michael is not content to rest on hislaurels or his loot. He faces a future guided by two observations, both of which hemade: “I’m interested in making a path instead of following a trail and that’s what Iwant to do in life - in everything I do,” Michael told this writer in an interview on July13, 1979.

He made the other observation in his role as Scarecrow in The Wiz, a movie in whichhe co-starred with one of his dearest friends - Diana Ross.In a scene near the end of the film, Michael spoke these words through his Scarecrowcharacter: “Success, fame, fortune - they are all illusions. All there is that is real is thefriendship that two can share.”

Those are the thoughts of the Michael Jackson nobody knows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Courtesy of Ebony/JET and Hulu, a long lost and forgotten 13+ minute video interview with Michael Jackson, King of Pop. This interview was filmed year 1987.

Oprah: Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jackson.[Michael Jackson enters the living room of his home. They shake hands and Michaelkisses Oprah on the cheek.]

Oprah: How nervous are you?Michael: How what?Oprah: How nervous are you right now?Michael: I'm not nervous at all, actually.Oprah: You really aren't?Michael: No, I never get nervous.

Oprah: Not even for your first interview and it's live around the world? I thoughtyou'd be a little nervous but you're not and that's great because if you're not nervous Iwon't be nervous. I just wanted to let the world know that when we agreed to do thisinterview you said you would be willing to talk to me about everything.Michael: That's true.

Oprah: Very true. I was watching you in the background there watching you in thevideo of the early years. Did that bring back memories for you?

Michael: It made me giggle because I haven't seen that footage in a long time. Did itbring back memories? Yes, me and my brothers who I love dearly and it's just awonderful moment for me.

Oprah: I saw you laugh when you saw yourself singing Baby, Baby, Baby.

Michael: Yeah, I think James Brown is a genius you know when he's with the FamousFlames, unbelievable. I used to watch him on television and I used to get angry at thecameraman because whenever he would really start to dance they would be on aclose-up so I couldn't see his feet. I'd shout, "show him show him.", so I could watchand learn.

Oprah: So he was a big mentor for you?

Michael: Phenomenal, phenomenal.Oprah: Who else was?

Michael: Jackie Wilson who I adore as an entertainer, and of course music, Motown.The Bee Gees who are brilliant, I just love great music.

Oprah: When I look at those tapes of you, and heaven knows, putting this together Ithink I've seen every piece of video ever done of you, and watching those tapes when,especially in the younger years, you seem to really come alive on stage. Were you ashappy off stage as you appear to be on stage?

Michael: Well, on stage for me was home. I was most comfortable on stage but once Igot off stage, I was like, very sad.Oprah: Really?Michael: Yes.

Oprah: And sad from the beginning, sad since it first started, sad?

Michael: Lonely, sad, having to face popularity and all that. There were times when Ihad great times with my brother, pillow fights and things, but I was, used to alwayscry from loneliness.Oprah: Beginning at what age?

Michael: Oh, very little, eight, nine.Oprah: When you all first became famous?

Michael: Yes.Oprah: So it wasn't what it appeared to be to the rest of the world, all of us. Iremember I was a little black child, wanted to marry Jackie Jackson, your brother, so Imean to all of us we thought this was the most wonderful thing in the world, whowouldn't have wanted that life?

Michael: It was wonderful; there is a lot of wonderment in being famous. I mean youtravel the world, you meet people, you go places, and it’s great. But then there's theother side, which I'm not complaining about. There is lots of rehearsal and you haveto put in a lot of your time, give of yourself a lot.

Oprah: Do you feel... I talked with Susan de Passe the other day, and Susan de Passeworked with you at Motown and really groomed you all and found the outfits for theEd Sullivan Show. We talked about whether or not it was really lost, was it?

Michael : Well, especially now I come to realize - and then - I would do my schoolingwhich was three hours with a tutor and right after that I would go to the recordingstudio and record, and I'd record for hours and hours until it's time to go to sleep. AndI remember going to the record studio there was a park across the street and I'd see allthe children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would haveto work instead.

Oprah: I want to go to this and show some pictures of you as a little boy.

Michael: OK.

Oprah: Susan said it was a heavy price. I want to know how big of a price it was,losing your childhood or having this kind of life?

Michael: Well, you don't get to do things that other children get to do, you know,having friends and slumber parties and buddies. There was none of that for me. Ididn't have any friends when I was little. My brothers were my friends.

Oprah: Was there ever a place where - because you know children - because Iremember talking to myself and playing with my dolls - was there.. and I think everychild needs a place to escape into, a child's world, a child's imagination, was thereever a time you could do that?

Michael: No. And that is why I think now because I didn't have it then, I compensatefor that. People wonder why I always have children around, because I find the thingthat I never had through them, you know Disneyland, amusement parks, arcadegames. I adore all that stuff because when I was little it was always work, work, workfrom one concert to the next, if it wasn't a concert it was the recording studio, if itwasn't that it was TV shows or interviews or picture sessions. There was alwayssomething to do.

Oprah: Did you feel, Smokey Robinson said this about you, and so have many otherpeople, that you were like an old soul in a little body.

Michael: I remember hearing that all the time when I was little. They used to call me a45-years-old midget wherever I went, I just used to hear that and wherever I went ..just like when some people when you were little and you started to sing did you knowyou were that good? And I say I never thought about it, I just did it and it came out. Inever thought about it really.

Oprah: So here you were, Michael Jackson, you all had hits, you all had so many hits,four hits in a row, and you were crying because you couldn't be like other kids.Michael: Well, I loved show business and I still love show business, but then there aretimes you want to play and have some fun and that part did make me sad. I rememberone time we were getting ready to go to South America and everything was packed upand in the car ready to go and I hid and I was crying because I really did not want togo. I wanted to play. I did not want to go.

Oprah: Were your brothers jealous of you when you started getting all the attention?Michael: Not that I know of, no.

Oprah: You never felt a sense of jealousy?Michael: Oh, let me think - no. No, I think they were always happy for me that I coulddo certain things, but I've never felt jealousy among them.

Oprah: Do you think they are jealous of you now?Michael: I wouldn't think so. I don't think so, no.

Oprah: No. What's your relationship like with your family? Are you all close still?

Michael: I love my family very much. I wish I could see them a little more often thanI do. But we understand because we're a show business family and we all work. Wedo have family day when we all get together, we pick a person's house, it might beJermaine's house or Marlon's house or Tito's house and everyone will come togetherin fellowship and love each other and talk and catch up on who's doing what and....

Oprah: You weren't all upset about LaToya and LaToya's book and the things thatLaToya has said about the family?

Michael: Well, I haven't read LaToya's book. I just know how to love my sisterdearly, I love LaToya and I always will and I always see her as the happy, lovingLaToya that I remember growing up with. So I couldn't completely answer on that.Oprah: Do you feel that some of the things that she's been saying are true?Michael: I couldn't answer Oprah, honestly I haven't read the book. That's the honesttruth.

Oprah: Well, let's go back to when you were growing up and feeling all of this, well, Iguess it's a sense of anguish, I guess, so there was no one for you to play with otherthan your brother's, you never had slumber parties?

Michael: Never.

Oprah: So I'm wondering for you, being this cute little boy who everybody adored andeverybody who comes up to you they're pulling your cheeks and how cute, howadolescence going through that duck stage where everything's awkward, and I'mwondering when you started to go through adolescence having been this childsuperstar, was that a particularly difficult time for you?

Michael: Very. Very, very difficult, yes. Because I think every child star suffersthrough this period because you're not the cute and charming child that you were. Youstart to grow, and they want to keep you little forever.

Oprah: Who are they?Michael: The public. And um, nature takes its course.Oprah: It does?

Michael: Yes, and I had pimples so badly it used to make me so shy, I used not tolook at myself, I'd hide my face in the dark, I wouldn't want to look in the mirror andmy father teased me and I just hated it and I cried every day.Oprah: Your father teased you about your pimples?

Michael: Yes and tell me I'm ugly.Oprah: Your father would say that?Michael: Yes he would. Sorry Joseph.Oprah: What's your relationship like with him?Michael: I love my father but I don't know him.Oprah: Are you angry with him for doing that? I think that's pretty cruel actually.Michael: Am I angry with him?

Oprah: Because adolescence is hard enough without a parent telling you that you'reugly.

Michael: Am I angry with him? Sometimes I do get angry. I don't know him the wayI'd like to know him. My mother's wonderful. To me she's perfection. I just wish Icould understand my father.

Oprah: And so let's talk about those teen years. Is that when you started to go insideyourself? Because obviously you haven't spoken to the world for 14 years. So youwent inside, you became a recluse. Was it to protect yourself?

Michael: I felt there wasn't anything important for me to say and those were very sad,sad years for me.

Oprah: Why so sad? Because on stage you were performing, you were getting yourGrammies. Why so sad?

Michael: Oh, there's a lot of sadness about my past and adolescence, about my fatherand all of those things.

Oprah: So he would tease you, make fun of you.Michael: Yes.Oprah: Would he ... did he ever beat you?Michael: Yes.Oprah: And why would he beat you?

Michael: He saw me, he wanted me ... I guess I don't know if I was his golden child orwhatever it was, some may call it a strict disciplinarian or whatever, but he was verystrict, very hard, very stern. Just a look would scare you, you know.

Oprah: And were you scared of him?

Michael: Very. Like there's been times when he'd come to see me, I'd get sick, I'd startto regurgitate.

Oprah: As a child or as an adult?Michael: Both. He's never heard me say this. I'm sorry, please don't be mad at me.Oprah: Well, I mean, I suppose everybody has to take responsibility for what they'vedone in life. And your father is one of those people who also have to takeresponsibility.Michael: But I do love him.

Oprah: Yes, I understand this.Michael: And I am forgiving.Oprah: But can you really forgive?

Michael: I do forgive. There's so much garbage and so much trash that's written aboutme it is so untrue, they're complete lies, and those are some of the things I wanted totalk about. The press has made up so much ... God ... awful, horrifying stories it hasmade me realize the more often you hear a lie, I mean, you begin to believe it.

Oprah: Um, we talked about all of the rumors just before we went to the break andthere are so many. First of all, I have been in this house getting prepared for this andI've been all over the house upstairs when you weren't looking, looking for thatoxygen chamber and I cannot find an oxygen chamber anywhere in the house.

Michael: That, that story is so crazy, I mean it's one of those tabloid things, it'scompletely made up.Oprah: Okay, but you are in something there, there's a picture of you, where did thatcome from? How did it get started?

Michael: That's ... I did a commercial for Pepsi and I was burned very badly and wesettled for one million dollars and I gave all the money ... like we built this placecalled the Michael Jackson Burn Center and that's a piece of technology used for burnvictims, right, so I'm looking at the piece of technology and decide to just go inside itand just to hammer around, somebody takes the picture, when they process the picturethe person who processes the picture says, "Oh, Michael Jackson," he made a copyand these pictures went all over the world with this lie attached to it. It's a completelie, why do people buy these papers. It's not the truth and I'm here to say. You know,do not judge a person, do not pass judgment, unless you have talked to them one onone, I don't care what the story is, do not judge them because it's a lie.

Oprah: You're right, that story, it was just like it had legs.

Michael: It's crazy! Why would I want to sleep in a chamber? [Laughing]Oprah: Well, the rumor was that you were sleeping in the chamber because you didn'twant to grow old.

Michael: That's stupid. That's stupid. It's completely made up and I'm embarrassed.I'm willing to forgive the press, or forgive anybody, I was taught to love and forgive,which I do have in my heart, but please don't believe these crazy, horrifying things.Oprah: Did you buy the Elephant man's bones, were you trying to get them for ...

Michael: No that's another stupid story. I love the story of the Elephant Man, he reminds me of me a lot and I could relate to it, it made me cry because I saw myself inthe story, but no I never asked for the ... where am I going to put some bones?Oprah: I don't know.

Michael: And why would I want some bones?Oprah: I don't know. So where did that come from?Michael: Someone makes it up and everybody believes it. If you hear a lie oftenenough, you believe it.Oprah: Yes and people make money selling tabloids.Michael: Yes

Oprah: All right. Just recently, there was a story and I know one of your attorneysheld a news conference, there was a story about you wanting a little white child toplay you in a Pepsi commercial.

Michael: That is so stupid. That is the most ridiculous, horrifying story I've everheard. It's crazy. Why, number one, it's my face as a child in the commercial, mewhen I was little, why would I want a white child to play me? I'm a black American, Iam proud to be a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. Ihave a lot of pride and dignity. That's like you wanting an oriental person to play youas a child. Does that make sense?

Oprah: Okay, then let's go to the thing that is most discussed about you, that is thecolor of your skin is most obviously different than when you were younger, and so Ithink it has caused a great deal of speculation and controversy as to what you havedone or are doing, are you bleaching your skin and is your skin lighter because youdon't like being black?

Michael: Number one, as I know of, there is no such thing as skin bleaching, I havenever seen it, I don't know what it is.

Oprah: Well they used to have those products, I remember growing up always hearingalways use bleach and glow, but you have to have about 300,000 gallons.

Michael: Okay, but number one, this is the situation. I have a skin disorder thatdestroys the pigmentation of the skin, it's something that I cannot help. Okay. Butwhen people make up stories that I don't want to be who I am it hurts me.Oprah: So it is...

Michael: It's a problem for me that I can't control, but what about all the millions ofpeople who sits out in the sun, to become darker, to become other than what they are,no one says nothing about that.

Oprah: So when did this start, when did your ... when did the color of your skin startto change?Michael: Oh boy, I don't ... sometime after Thriller, around Off the Wall, Thriller,around sometime then.Oprah: But what did you think?

Michael: It's in my family, my father said it's on his side. I can't control it, I don'tunderstand, I mean, it makes me very sad. I don't want to go into my medical historybecause that is private, but that's the situation here.

Oprah: So okay, I just want to get this straight, you are not taking anything to changethe color of your skin ...

Michael: Oh, God no, we tried to control it and using make-up evens it out because itmakes blotches on my skin, I have to even out my skin. But you know what's funny,why is that so important? That's not important to me. I'm a great fan of art, I loveMichelangelo, if I had the chance to talk to him or read about him I would want toknow what inspired him to become who he is, the anatomy of his craftsmanship, notabout who he went out with last night ... what' wrong with ... I mean that's what isimportant to me.

Oprah: How much plastic surgery have you had?

Michael: Very, very little. I mean you can count on my two fingers, I mean let's saythis, if you want to know about those things, all the nosey people in the world, readmy book Moonwalk, it's in my book. You know, let's put it this way, if all the peoplein Hollywood who have had plastic surgery, if they went on vacation, there wouldn'tbe a person left in town.

Oprah: Mmm, I think you might be right.Michael: I think I am right. It would be empty.Oprah: Did you start having plastic surgery because of those teen years because of notliking the way you looked?

Michael: No, not really. It was only two things. Really, get my book, it's no big deal.Oprah: You don't want to tell me what it is? You had your nose done, obviously.Michael: Yeah, but so did a lot of people that I know.Oprah: And so, when you hear all these things about you, and there have been more...

Michael: I've never had my cheekbones done, never had my eyes done, never had mylips done and all this stuff. They go too far, but this is stuff that happens every daywith other people.Oprah: Are you pleased now with the way you look?

Michael: I'm never pleased with anything, I'm a perfectionist, it's part of who I am.Oprah: And so when you look in the mirror now and so the image that looks back atyou are there days when you say I kinda like this or I like the way my hair ...

Michael: No. I'm never pleased with myself. No, I try not to look in the mirror.Oprah: I have to ask you this, so many mothers in my audience have said to please askyou this question. Why do you always grab your crotch?

Michael: [Giggle] Why do I grab my crotch?

Oprah: You've got a thing with your crotch going on there.

Michael: I think it happens subliminally. When you're dancing, you know you are justinterpreting the music and the sounds and the accompaniment if there's a driving base,if there's a cello, if there's a string, you become the emotion of what that sound is, soif I'm doing a movement and I go bam and I grab myself it's... it's the music thatcompels me to do it, it's not saying that I'm dying to grab down there and it's not in agreat place you don't think about it, it just happens, sometimes I'll look back at thefootage and I go ... and I go did I do that? So I'm a slave to the rhythm, yeah, okay

After a commercial break, some of Michael's major achievements are shown:

# 1 Album of All Time# 2 Album of All TimeBiggest Concert in HistoryMore Music Awards Than Any Other ArtistThe 80's Most # 1 HitsBiggest Endorsements Deal Ever - 15,000,000 dollarsBillion Dollar Entertainment ContractEntertainer of the Decade

Oprah: When you have broken all those records, when you have the number onealbum ever sold, when you've broken every record there is to break, when youbecome an icon of an industry, is there always the pressure to do something biggerand something better.

Michael: Oh gee, that is something, um, it makes it harder each time to follow up.You try to be as original as you can be without thinking about statistics, just you gofrom the soul and from the heart.

Oprah: And so when you think of that what do you do, you go, you meditate, youthink, well I will now do the Super bowl.

Michael: No, I just create out of my heart, really.

Oprah: Liz Taylor said you were king of pop, rock and soul. Where did this wholenotion that you proclaimed yourself king of pop come from?

Michael: Well, I didn't proclaim myself to be anything. I'm happy to be alive, I'mhappy to be who I am, king of pop was first said by Elizabeth Taylor on one of theaward shows.

Oprah: And that's where this all started?

Michael: Yes, and the fans ... all the stadiums that we played at they'd bring bannerssaying king of pop and jackets that say king of pop and T-shirts that say king of popand they chanted outside my hotel, so it just became something that just happened allover the world.

Oprah: Do you go out, do you date?Michael: Yes.Oprah: Who do you date?

Michael: Well, right now it's Brooke Shields. Well, we try not to be everywhere, goeverywhere, it's mostly at home, she'll come over, I'll go to her house, because I don'tlike going out in public.

Oprah: Have you ever been in love?Michael: Yeah.Oprah: With Brooke Shields?Michael: Yes, and another girl.

Oprah: And another girl? Let me ask you this, and it's embarrassing for me to ask youthis, but I'm gonna ask you anyway, are you a virgin?

Michael: Uhhhhh, how could you ask that question?Oprah: I just want to know.Michael: I'm a gentleman.Oprah: You're a gentleman?Michael: I'm a gentleman.

Oprah: I would interpret that to mean that you believe that a lady is a lady andtherefore..

Michael: That's something that's private, I mean, it shouldn't be spoken about openly.......... You can call me old fashioned if you want, but, you know I mean that's verypersonal.

Oprah: So, you're not going to answer it?Michael: I'm embarrassed.

Oprah: Well, we would like to know whether or not there is a possibility that you aregoing to marry one day and have children?

Michael: I would feel my life is incomplete if I do not 'cause I adore the family life, Iadore children and I adore that whole thing. And I would love to, that's one of mydreams, but I couldn't right now because I'm married, I'm married to my music andthere has to be that closeness in order to do the kind of work that I want to do and ...

Oprah: What kind of woman makes you - in the video we're going to see later, wepremier the world video, there's a line where you talk about being quenched, so whatkind of person does that for you?

Michael: [Sings] Quench my desire ... Well Brooke, I've always liked her and when Iwas little I used to stay with Diana Ross, me and my brother stayed with her for yearsand I never said, but I always had a crush on her.

Oprah: You did?Michael: Yes.

Oprah: I heard too, this was another one of those rumors that you had proposed toElizabeth Taylor at some point.

Michael: Elizabeth Taylor is gorgeous, beautiful, and she still is today, I'm crazyabout her.Oprah: Yeah, but did you propose to her?Michael: I would like to have.

Oprah: Well, Elizabeth Taylor is here. Liz? Can we bring Liz out now? Liz had saidshe wanted to be here to hold your hand through this. You don't look like you needyour hand held. Elizabeth Taylor!

Michael: Hi, Elizabeth.Oprah: Hi.Elizabeth: Hi.Oprah: Have a seat.Elizabeth: Thank you.Oprah: Did Michael ever propose to you?Elizabeth: No! And I never proposed to him.

Oprah: Never did! What do you think is most misunderstood about Michael Jackson?Elizabeth: All the things you mentioned. He is the least weird man I have ever known.He is highly intelligent, true, intuitive, understanding, sympathetic, generous almostto a fault, of himself.Oprah: Uh-huh.

Elizabeth: Uh, and he just, if, if he has any eccentricities, it's that he is like larger thanlife and some people just cannot accept that or face it or understand it. His talent onstage, why I call him the King of pop, rock, soul, music, entertainment, whatever,Oprah: Yes.

Elizabeth: there's nobody that can come near him. Nobody can dance like that, writethe lyrics like that, the music, uh, cause the kind of excitement that he does.

Oprah: And why do you think you all are such good friends? What has brought aboutthis kind of bond? Because people try to make this weird.

Elizabeth: Well, it's not. I mean, our childhoods are very similar, and we have thatfrom the very beginning in common. Um, I was a child star at nine, had an abusivefather, um, and that kind of brought us close together in the very beginning.

Oprah: And what is it, I am going to ask Michael this question later on, but, what is ityou most want the world to know about him?

Elizabeth: What a wonderful, giving, caring, generous man he is and how good he is.Oprah: And he's funny, too.Elizabeth: Oh, he's wildly funny.Oprah: He can crack some jokes, I tell you.Elizabeth: Yes, but he is a good man.Oprah: When we come back - Thank you for joining us too -Elizabeth: That's fine.

Oprah: ...cause I know you did not want to be on camera at first, but thank you.

Coming up next, Michael is going to give us not only a tour of his incredibleamusement park and movie theater, but also a very special dance performance. For allof you who say he is faking the Moonwalk with mirrors, we've got some proofcoming up in a minute.

Oprah: Now this is what's shocking to me, that you even drive. What we're doing,everybody, is that we are coming from Michael's house down to this amazingamusement park, which is, oh, about several hundred yards from the house. And thisis, it's incredible.

Michael: Thank you.

Oprah: And I want to know whether or not you did this for yourself or did you do itfor all the children that you entertain here?

Michael: For myself and the children. Every three weeks we - terminally ill childrenthat come to - uh-Oprah: To the house?Michael: Yes, yes.

Oprah: Make a wish foundation, Dream Street, Starlight, yes?Michael: Every three weeks - and these are sick children, children with cancer. And Ientertain them.Oprah: Uh-huh.Michael: And they come here to enjoy themselves.

Oprah: This is unbelievable. What I have to say is, these are, as I was talking to somekids that were here, these are not just grandma rides here. These are some major rides.Michael: [laughs]

Oprah: I mean the Sea Dragon, the Ferris Wheel, and there's that Zipper over there.Michael: The Wipeout.Oprah: Yeah, the Wipeout, and there are Bumper cars here, it's really-

Michael: Thank you. Well, it brings out the child that lives in everybody. I love ridesand things like that and I share it with the children.

Oprah: Were you able to do that when you were a kid?Michael: Not really. Sometimes, sometimes, but not often enough.Oprah: But now you can anytime.Michael: Every day. It's right in my back yard.Oprah: How often do you actually come out here and do this?Michael: Whenever I'm here I come out and I go on the rides.

Oprah: Well, is this a part of you, what we were talking about earlier, the pain ofgrowing up and not being able to experience all the things that kids normallyexperience and so now you are fulfilling all those fantasies.Michael: To compensate, yes.Oprah: Really.Michael: Yes, it is very true.Oprah: Do you think you can ever really recapture it though? Does it feel the same? Imean, I don't know.Michael: [laughs] It's more fun.Oprah: Really?Michael: I wouldn't change the past if I could. I'm enjoying myself.

Oprah: And here we are inside the theater. I had one too many sugar babies at thecandy counter.Michael: [laughs]Oprah: But the candy is here for all the kids. Pinocchio is here, ET is here. Did you -what's fascinating to me about you is that obviously you have this childlike aura aboutyou and I see children with you and they play with you like you are one of them. But,a child did not do this.Michael: [laughs]

Oprah: A child did not put this together. This is really magnificent.Michael: Well, thank you. I - I love to do things for children and I try to imitate Jesus- and I am not saying I am Jesus, I'm not saying that.Oprah: Yes, we're clear on that.

Michael: Right, I'm trying to imitate Jesus in the fact that he said to be like children,to love children, to be as pure as children, and to make yourself as innocent and to seethe world through eyes of wonderment and the whole magical quality of it all and Ilove that. And we'll have like a hundred bald headed children, they all have cancer,and they're all running around.Oprah: Um-huh.

Michael: And they are enjoying themselves and it makes me cry happy tears that Iwas able to do this for them, you know.Oprah: Um-huh.Michael: Makes me so pleased inside.

Oprah: Well, when I came here to, um, about a month ago to shoot a commercial withyou for promoting tonight's event, one of the things that really impressed me the most,I hope you guys are getting shots of this. I don't know how you are, if all the camerasare on us, but, oh, we got other cameras - is that there are, built inside the walls here beds-beds for some of those sick children who come. And what I realized when I sawthis is that you have to be a person who really cares about children to build it intoyour architecture.

Michael: Yes, yes. We have children that come who are - who intravenously - theyare very sick, bedridden-Oprah: They can't sit up.

Michael: Right. They can't sit up and these beds, they are hospital beds, you push abutton, you go up or you go down and they are able to watch. We have a magic show,we show the current films, there's cartoons, anything you know, anything so they canescape to that world of magic that they don't have a chance to experience, the world Iwas deprived of when I was little.

Oprah: Now let me ask you this. You know I believe everything happens in people'slives for a reason. Do you think that had you not missed a lot of, uh, the life and funand fantasy of childhood that you would be so in touch with children today. Wouldyou relate to them as you do?

Michael: I probably would, but not as much. That's why I wouldn't change a thing-Oprah: Really?

Michael: Because I am happy with the way things are and my caring for young peopleand everything.Oprah: Are you really happy now, because you seemed so sad for a long time.Michael: [laughs] I was sad for years and years and years. But I'm happy, I'm gettingthere. Yes, I'm very happy.

Oprah: And what has made you happier.Michael: Being able to give back, you know, and to help other people.Oprah: Uh-huh.Michael: Heal the World Foundation which I've formed which helps children inhealing in the world. We're doing Heal L. A., which is uh, we have three primarygoals in mind: Immunization of children, mentoring - a big sister, big brotherprogram, and education in drug abuse. And Jimmy Carter has teamed up with us to doHeal Atlanta and we're going to go from state to state healing - you know we've goneto Sarajevo, we've done lots of places.

Oprah: I know, I know, we have photographs of you from all over the world whereyou are with all these children. One of the things I was saying before we went to thelast break, before the alarm went off in the house and all that-Michael: Yeah -

Oprah: is that, uh, we were talking about the rumors. One of the strangest ones I heardwas that when you're Moonwalking, you're faking it, that you have some mirrors inyour socks someplace.Michael: Oh, boy!Oprah: And it's not really real.Michael: No, that's not true.

Oprah: How did you, first of all, you know we've spent so much time trying to dispelthe rumors, trying to get the truth out that I haven't had a really opportunity to talk toyou about how you conceive your music, how you conceive the dance. Where did theMoonwalk come from?

Michael: Well, the Moonwalk came from these beautiful children, the black kids wholive in the ghettos, you know, the inner cities, who are brilliant, that just have thatnatural talent for dancing any of these new - the running man - any of these dances.They come up with these dances, all I did was enhance the dance.Oprah: O.K. I want to see you dance.

Michael: Oh, God, no, no.Oprah: I want to see you dance. I want to see you dance, live.Michael: No, no. I can show you a step or two, but, I'm a little rusty right now.Oprah: A little rusty?![Michael goes on stage and dances to Dangerous.]

Michael: That's the Moonwalk - wait, you need to catch it from the - sideways.Oprah: You gotta turn sideways?Michael: Are you from the front?Oprah: Yeah, we got ya!Michael: Catch it from the sideways.Oprah: O.K. Just show me slow motion. Could you show me slow motion?

Michael: O.K., wait, it's like, it's pushing and then there's like a popping type of thing.[Michael stops dancing and comes down from stage.]Michael: I'm sorry.Oprah: [applauding] Well, I saw it live, I saw it live, I saw it live. And so you took itfrom the kids who were doing it.Michael: Yeah, because, um, I think they are the real dancers.Oprah: Yeah! And when you are, for instance, when we were here before, when wewere here before to shoot that commercial, you were--

Michael: You were supposed to do this with me! [laughing]Oprah: I don't know how to do this!Michael: [laughing]Oprah: You know I don't know how to do this!

Michael: [laughs]Oprah: You know what? I mean all the things that were printed in the tabloids, theonly thing that's ever been true was when they said I couldn't dance. Now that's thetruth!

Michael: [laughs]Oprah: When we were here the last time shooting the commercial, you were like inbetween shots running off and conceiving the dance, choreographing the dance, youwere up all night dancing.

Michael: For the Super Bowl.Oprah: Yes, yes.Michael: Yes, well, I'm never satisfied. Even when I see something that I've done andpeople say oh it was so phenomenal - when I did Motown 25 and I did the Moonwalkfor the first time, I was backstage crying afterwards.Oprah: Why?

Michael: Because I was unhappy.Oprah: You cried after Motown 25??

Michael: After Motown 25, yes. But, then as I was walking to the car there was thislittle boy, he was like 12, was a little Jewish kid, and he said, "Oh, you were amazing.Who taught you to ever dance like that?". And for the first time, I felt I did a goodjob, because I know children don't lie and I just felt so good about it then.

Oprah: You wanted to, you felt so good, you probably wanted to say- [imitatingMichael] HEH-HEH!Michael: [laughs] Heh-heh!Oprah: I want you to sing something acapella for me, if you can.Michael: Oh, no! What could I sing?

Oprah: Who is it, you know do that whole little beat thing, since we're here in thetheater.Michael: Um, oh, boy, what could I sing? Who Is It?Oprah: Where did that Heh-heh thing come from? Heh-heh.

Michael: Heh-heh! [starts the beat and makes instrument sounds to 'Who Is It?'][sings] I gave my money, I gave my time, I gave her everything in life one heart couldfind. It doesn't seem to matter and it doesn't seem right, but the will has brought nofortune, still I cry alone at night. Don't you judge of my composure cause I'm botheredevery day, and she didn't leave a letter, she just up and ran away.

Oprah: OOOWWWW! Fabulous!Michael: I mean, you wanted me to do it! I get embarrassed. I'm sorry. I getembarrassed.Oprah: I like it very much. Thank you very much for that. We're going to come rightback with more of Michael Jackson live - That was GREAT! [hugs Michael]

[Cut to clips for intermission]Oprah: One of the reasons we wanted to look at that piece when we went to breakthere was because music videos used to be you, used to just be people singing theirsong until you came along and changed music videos. Did you know when you firstconceived your first one that's what you were doing? Michael : Yeah. The idea was tomake something that was a story so it had a beginning, middle and an ending.Oprah: Uh-huh. Michael : So it felt like a mini movie, that's what I wanted to do. Andthat is what we did with 'Beat It' and 'Thriller' and 'Smooth Criminal' and all thosetype of things.Oprah: So when you start to look at a piece of work or look at a piece of music, areyou already thinking about how you are going to -- Michael : Sometimes, yes, that isvery true.Oprah: Uh-huh. I wonder what it feels like, I will never know since I cannot sing onething, but, what it feels like to be on stage with a sea of people, a sea of people. Oneof the things that has impressed me in putting the pieces together for you, is all aroundthe world, the response to you is so incredible. I just wanted to, for the rest of you inthe world who haven't seen how people respond to Michael Jackson to take a look....[Cut to concert clips and crowd scenes from around the world, with 'Will You BeThere' playing as background music.]

Oprah: So, when you're standing there and there's a sea of people responding to you,screaming you name as they were, what does it feel like?

Michael: Love, you just feel lots of love and I feel blessed and honored to be able tobe an instrument of nature that was chosen to give them that, what I give them. I'mvery honored and happy about that.

Oprah: An instrument of nature - that's an interesting way to describe your- self.Michael: Thank you, yes.Oprah: Are you very spiritual?Michael: In what sense?Oprah: I mean, do you, do you meditate? Do you understand that there's somethingbigger than yourself at work here?

Michael: I believe in God, absolutely, absolutely, very much.Oprah: Uh-huh. And I believe that everybody comes to the world for a reason. I think,um, most of us spend our lives trying to figure out what the purpose of our being hereis. What do you think yours is?

Michael: My purpose?Oprah: Uh-huh.

Michael: Oh, boy, I think, um, to give in the best way I can through song, and throughdance and through music. I mean, I am committed to my art. I believe that all art hasas it's ultimate goal the union between the material and the spiritual, the human andthe divine. I believe that to be the reason for the very existence of art.Oprah: Uh-huh.

Michael: And, um, I feel I was chosen as an instrument to just give music and loveand harmony to the world. To children of all ages, and um, adults and teenagers.Oprah: Do you think that by talking now, setting the record straight for yourself, thatmaybe people will be able to focus more attention on your music and not judge youfor anything other than the kind of music that you play?

Michael: I would hope so. I would love that.Oprah: Well, I hope that comes out of this, too. I'm also excited that the world iswatching, and because the world is watching, we thought this was a good time to letthe world see the world premiere of Give In To Me.

[Cut to world premiere showing of 'Give In To Me' video.]Oprah: So, we want to know how it starts on a piece of paper-quench my desire-andturns into that.

Michael: Well, Give In To Me, I wanted to write another song, you know, that waskinda exciting and fun and had a rock edge to it. You know, like when I did Beat Itand Black or White. And Slash, who's a dear friend of mine, we love animals andthings like that, he wanted to play guitar and I wanted him to play guitar. We gottogether and we went to Germany and we shot this thing in just like two hours. Wehad no time at all to shoot it. We wanted it to be exciting and fantastical and fans, youknow, like it's a rock concert and that's how it ends up, that's the result.

Oprah: You mentioned animals. I know everyone's going to ask me when I leave here,where are all the animals? I said it in the opening, I expected chimps to be jumping allover the living room and I didn't see any. Where's Bubbles?

Michael: [laughs] Well, the animals are everywhere. They're in their habitats. They'reall over the ranch. And they come out in the daytime and they play and jump around,they have their own playground and area.Oprah: Why, why were you so fascinated by animals, do you think?

Michael: Because I find in animals the same thing I find so wonderful in children.That purity, that honesty, where they don't judge you, they just want to be your friend.I think that is so sweet.Oprah: I do, too. We'll be right back with Michael Jackson, live.Oprah: We're live at Michael Jackson's house, in his theater and we asked NBC forninety minutes. I don't think it was enough time.Michael: [laughs]Oprah: I think we've cleared up all the rumors though. There are no chimps runningaround the house-Michael: [laughs]Oprah: No oxygen tank in the house. I don't know, are you going to lay off the crotcha little bit?Michael: [laughs] Ask the music.

Oprah: Ask the music will you lay off the crotch. Oh, we didn't get about theinauguration. Did you tell President Clinton that you had to be the only person theresinging?

Michael: That is horrible. That is the stupidest, craziest story that I have ever heard. Imean, why would I just want me and nobody else could be on the show, just me.That's so stupid, to me. I mean, it's crazy. That's not even in my heart. I would neversay any- thing like that. Again, somebody made it up and the whole world believed it.It is so false, it's incredible.

Oprah: What do you want, want most - what do you want the world to know aboutyou most? I asked Liz that of you, what do you want them to know?

Michael: Like to be remembered for?Oprah: Not to be remembered for - what about for now? Forget remembered.

Michael: Oh, known for now. As to be an artist, a great artist. I, I love what I do and Iwould love people to love what I do and to be loved. I just simply want to be lovedwherever I go. All over the world, because I love people of all races from my heart,with true affection.

Oprah: Hmm. You know, Gene Siskel who's a movie critic asked me this questiononce. And I love the question, so I am going to ask you.Michael: Yeah?Oprah: You're 34 years old. What do you know for sure?

Michael: Hmm. What do I know for sure?Oprah: What do you know for sure?

Michael: Oh, boy, I'm still learning. I mean, life is an education for me. I can't say thatI know anything for sure. I really believe that.

Oprah: I can't thank you enough for letting us in and I wish you all the happiness inthe world. I loved being here because it makes me feel like a child again and one ofthe things I promised myself was that when this interview was over-live around theworld- I was going to go get on that Ferris Wheel!Michael: [laughs]Oprah: And that is exactly what I intend to do. I'm gonna take off my blue shoes andI'm gonna ride that Ferris Wheel!

Michael: [continues laughing]Oprah: I'm gonna have a good time and have myself a little popcorn, maybe, andmaybe when it's all over, you'll teach me how to do the Moonwalk - wheneverybody's not looking!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~screenshots from the O interview:

"Give In To Me" MichaelJackson VEVO link[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

PEPSI SHOOT-

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Just an observation-I am trying to keep my opinions quiet and to myself for this thread-however this is not a controversial stand-This "O" interview (which I do remember very well) in 1993 was typically a negative approach on the part of Oprah-I saw baiting-confronting-accusatory tones-and often an attitude of flippancy toward Michael when he would deny-dispute or simply say whatever the topic of the moment happened to be was silly or turn it around to form a question back to "O" saying such things as "Now who would believe that-or-who would really think or behave that way?" This made her feel (and look) foolish and unfair-well "O" if the shoe fits!

I think MJ was really the only person who was intrinsically just honest-no "airs" or ego-this was "alien" to "O" who had been using that "gotcha" interview style for quite a while - with common people in show/music business- so if she was not able to coax at least 1 humiliating moment from that guest on the day on her "judge-jury-convict them" stage - well -her day was just ruined-

I was tickled and very impressed with Michael for he without any effort was able to look as he really was-honest and sweet-with honorable and good intentions-"O" was her regular sensationalistic seeking self with nothing really above mediocre skills and a flat base nature-

As most of us know-Oprah didn't "right her ship" and fairly report MJ anything-until suddenly after he passed-she knew that her ratings would take a giant hit-if she didn't make noise and a public comment of respect for MJ-and kindness toward the 3 children- It was a day late and a dollar short for me-I'm glad the 25 years of that O being on TV 5 days a week is nearly FINALLY over-

It is a shame about Oprah-her ways of going about her daily business and her personal life and how the years played out-she was actually pretty good when she was getting started-then she got louder and louder and the unfortunate part-she heard herself-listened and believed all the tripe she was yelling and carrying on about-bye O!

_________________Michael Jackson transcended our imaginations and continues to uplift our souls and spirits through his tremendously meaningful life well lived.

In the first one-on-one interview the "King of Pop, Rock and Soul" Michael Jacksongranted after he shook up America with the announcement of his marriage to LisaMarie Presley, daughter of the late Rock 'n' Roller Elvis Presley, the megastarrevealed to EBONY where they met and how he proposed.

Some published reports said that the couple had known each other only eight monthsbefore Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson issued a statement, saying: "My name is Mrs. LisaMarie Presley-Jackson. My marriage to Michael took place in a private ceremonyoutside the United States [May 26]." She said the marriage was not formallyannounced because "we are both very private people living in the glare of the publicmedia... I am very much in love with Michael. I dedicate my life to being his wife. Iunderstand and support him. We both look forward to raising a family and livinghappy, healthy lives together. We hope friends and fans will understand and respectour privacy."

It was their love of privacy that prompted media probes that resulted in publishedstories that stated the couple knew each other only eight months before beginningtheir romance that led to matrimony.

The truth is that Michael, now 36, and Lisa Marie, 26, were just a couple ofyoungsters when they met in Las Vegas 20 years ago. He was 16 and she was 6. TheJackson Five, with Michael out front as the lead singer, appeared at the MGM GrandHotel April 9 through 23, 1974, and August 21 through Sept. 3, 1974.

>>>Interview

Michael, taking time out from his studio recording session in New York to giveEBONY an exclusive interview, recalls:

"Her father [Elvis] used to bring her to catch our show where all nine of us [Jackie,Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Randy, Maureen 'Rebbie', LaToya and Janet, then 8] wereperforming... It was a real family show -- the only family show in Las Vegas whichallowed children to come." He continued: "Elvis would bring his daughter, LisaMarie. She would sit right in the front and bodyguards would be right there.

Afterwards, she would be escorted backstage and I would meet her and we wouldtalk. This happened quite often. She would come again, again and again. It was quitean event. "After that, I didn't see her for quite a while. You know, it was like shipspassing in the night -- hello and goodbye."

Lisa Marie married musician Danny Keough in 1988 and two children (Danielle, now5, and Benjamin, 2) were born to this union. Differences that the couple did notreconcile resulted in a "quickie" divorce in the Dominican Republic last spring.Three years ago when he started the DANGEROUS album, which featured such hitsas "Why You Wanna Trip On Me," "Remember The Time," "She Drives Me Wild"and "Can't Let Her Get Away," Michael said their relationship reached a new plateau.

"We sort of went out together. Then we would talk on the phone... I noticed that wehad come closer. We went to Las Vegas for The Jackson Family Honors [in 1993].We later traveled to Atlanta for (former) President Jimmy Carter to visit children, butno one knew that she was there with me.

The brilliant thing about us is that we were often together but did not let anybodyknow about it. We got to see each other that way over the years. We were really quietand comfortable with each other. That's pretty much how the dating startedhappening."

It was during this period that Michael said their relationship changed from being goodfriends to lovers. As a sensitive songwriter who deals with feelings that run the rangeof human emotions, Michael has an uncanny sense of the chemistry in writing songs.For him, that chemistry is inspiration. If you listen to the lyrics of "Remember TheTime" and "I Can't Let Her Get Away," in the 1991 release of his 'Dangerous' album,you conclude that Lisa Marie could have provided the inspiration.

She certainly provided the kind of support he needed in 1993 when he was goingthrough legal trials and tribulations. "I was on tour and it seemed like I was inArmageddon -- Armageddon in the brains," Michael remembered. "All these horriblestories were going around about me. None was true. It was unbelievable. Lisa Mariewould call. I could count my true friends on one hand. She was very, very supportivethe whole time. That really impressed me. She would call and be crying. She wasangry and really wanted to choke people.

"But, really, what impressed me was earthquake day in L.A. [June 28, 1993],"Michael says with an air of excitement. "On earthquake day, my phone just happenedto be working. I was terrified -- almost out of my brains. I thought the world wasending. I got a phone call that day and it was from her, right after the quake."

Later, in London, where he underwent treatment for addiction to prescription drugs,Michael said that Lisa Marie gave him the impression that their relationship wasmoving them toward each other in ties that bind. "She would call me, but she didn'talways get through to me. And that made it very frustrating for her. I got all themessages... She was very concerned." It was after these experiences that Michael sayshe came to that moment when he had to say "This Girl Is Mine" and "The Way YouMake Me Feel." (Michael chuckles at the play on the words of two of his best-sellingsongs.)

"It kind of unfolded," he said of the moment of truth. "We spent a lot of time on theranch [his sprawling, multimillion-dollar Neverland] and just walked around andtalked. It happened! It unfolded all natural. We could feel the feeling we had for eachother without even talking about it. It was all in the vibrations, the feelings and thelook in our eyes."

After he recounted how a friendship turned to romance, Michael was asked: "Whoproposed, you or Lisa Marie?" He responded: "I proposed." Blushing at therecollection, Michael said: "Well, first I asked -- I'm the shyest person in the world. Isaid to her -- we were on the phone -- 'If I asked you to marry me, would you?' Shesaid, 'Of course!' Then there was silence. I said, 'Excuse me, I've got to go to thebathroom,' he laughed sheepishly. "So I came back. I didn't quite know what to say.But that's how it happened." Following the telephone proposal and acceptance, theengaged couple promptly met at Neverland, where the romance started. It climaxed inmarriage on May 26 in the Dominican Republic, proving that love conquers all.

The couple honeymooned briefly in Budapest, Hungary, where the bride shared sometime with the groom on a film location, where he produced a promotional video forhis upcoming album, 'HISTORY.' They also spent some time doing what they bothlove -- caring for children. They visited children's hospitals where they comforted theyoung patients and distributed toys.

This was a prelude to the priority they have agreed upon. The priority is not recordingtogether, although Lisa Marie inherited her famous father's talent for singing and hisestate valued at over $150 million.

"All this talk about us recording together is a complete rumor," says Michael, whosefinancial worth is estimated to be over $200 million. "The thing we want to do most iscentered around children. I never met anybody who cared so much about children theway I do. I get real emotional about children. Lisa Marie is the exact same way.

Wherever we go, we visit children's hospitals. My dream is that when we go to SouthAfrica and India, we will aid children," he discloses. Asked about plans for their ownchildren, he replied: "It's already happening." Then the fifth born of the nine Jacksonspaused and added: "I want more children than my father [Joseph] has."

_________________Michael Jackson transcended our imaginations and continues to uplift our souls and spirits through his tremendously meaningful life well lived.